Swaying Emotions
by MelodicMadness
Summary: Fayt and Maria are summoned to Aquios, but while they were there, federation soldiers show up to capture Fayt. He is captured along with Maria, and while they escape, their bonds grow and their relationship develops. FaytxMaria
1. Aboard the Diplo

**HEY, BEFORE YOU READ.  
**

**This story is old. Old as **_**balls**_**. It took me about 6 years, but I finally uploaded the last chapter. I began writing this when I was young and just threw words together and tried to make them sound pretty. Also I had no idea what consistency and In-character writing was. I've improved a lot since I began, which is why I'm grateful to this little story. It's pushed me forward, and I owe my old readers a closure.**

So, if you still want to read this, go ahead, but I warn you, it is PAINFUL. I had a good plot going, but the writing didn't agree. And if you do end up reading it... man, don't bother pointing out errors. They're there, and they pain me. But I had to start from somewhere, right?

Anyway, continue on. And if you do like my story, that's great! If not, that's great too.

Xxxx

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I don't own the Diplo. But what I DO own is this really cute stuffed horse I named Sora! Okay, he's totally useless… ((sigh)) Yet, none the less cute!

**Title: **Swaying Emotions

**Author: **Maiyoko Iwagashi

**Notes: **I find FaytxMaria very cute and on of my favorite SO3 couples, so I brainstormed one day and came up with a few ideas then wrote them down. It took a while to plan it all out though before I started typing.

**Warnings: **Slight OOCness, some language here and there, non-mild suggestive scenes, and of course, cuteness and sweetness that kills.

Xxxx

_**Chapter 1:**_ Aboard the Diplo

Xxxx

Maria walked into the bridge of the Diplo and stood to take a quick glance around the large space. She was captain of the ship and crew, and she didn't appreciate Cliff disappearing on the eve of the matter. The blue haired young woman turned back around to search for Cliff elsewhere. As she turned around the corner of the hall though, she bumped into Lieber, causing them both to fall on the floor. "Woah…! Who in the… Oh, Lieber… What're you doing out here? Shouldn't you already be in the bridge?" She swiftly got herself off the hard floor and waited for Lieber's 'excuse', which she was quickly becoming tired of.

"Oh, M-Miss Maria! I was just looking for you! I finally wanted to tell you…" Lieber froze. After all these years, he still didn't have the courage to tell Maria his feelings. It was basically the same routine everyday: find Maria, pester her, end up not telling her, than leave ashamed of himself.

"Yes, what'd you want to tell me?" she tapped her foot impatiently and put her hands on her hips as she waited for him. The crew just didn't seem to listen without protesting much these days. She sighed to herself.

Lieber nervously thought of an excuse as a little bit of sweat ran down his forehead. Each excuse was different; one time it was 'I just saw a _chocobo_ floating out the window!'. Maria became so confused that Lieber snuck away while she tried to figure out what in the world he was talking about. I mean like, honestly… chocobos in space? "I wanted to tell you that…" he coughed nervously before changing his sentence, "your shoes are untied! Er, again!" He quickly rushed past her and ran back into the bridge.

_Huh? My shoes…? _She thought asshe looked down at her shoes, realizing she wasn't wearing any shoes with laces. Once again, Lieber has made a complete fool of himself. _Ugh, never mind that. I need to find Cliff. _Aggravated by Lieber, she quickly strolled down to Cliff's room and knocked on his door. "Cliff? Are you in there?" she asked and all she heard was light snores.

Maria strolled through the sliding door, only to be disappointed by the sight of Cliff snoring in his bed. _That lazy idiot! He's sleeping on the job again. _Maria sighed then walked up to Cliff's bed."Cliff. Cliff! Wake up!" Cliff responded by snoring loudly. Maria narrowed her eyes. "Cliff! Grr… fine then. Lightning Blast!" Maria called out her symbology spell, sending the strike of lightning at Cliff and causing him to wake up rather uncomfortably.

"**WOAH**!" The Klausian fell clumsily to the floor, face first. He got up and raised his fists, looking around the room offensively. "Ok, who did that!" his eyes froze on Maria, who was sending him a cold stare that struck through unease through his spine. Her lip stayed in a firm line, while she restrained herself from blasting Cliff again. "Oh, Maria! Um… I can explain this, you know." He apologetically rubbed the back of his head.

Maria slightly growled deep in her throat as she took steps closer to Cliff, so that she had to look up at him to see his face. "You were supposed to be at the bridge! I've been searching everywhere, only to find sleeping as if there aren't important matters to attend to." Why was it that _she _had to be surrounded by thick-headed idiots? Where's all the smart people? Only a handful of the ones she knows well are capable of doing their work the right way.

_Man… I'm in deep poo. _Cliff thought. "But, you see…" Cliff tried saying before getting interrupted.

"You better keep that excuse or I'll shove it up you're a-"

"Miss Maria! We need you at the bridge! Oh, was I interrupting something?" Marietta said at the door as she stopped to call to Maria. She became confused at the sight of a pale Cliff standing before Maria.

"I'll be right _there_ just give me a second! I mean… Okay, I will be there soon." Maria lowered her voice and as soon as Marietta's footsteps disappeared, she started yelling at Cliff again. Boy, it sure felt good to yell at someone older and not get in trouble for it.

"Now where was I… Oh yes! **I expect you to be working hard and not slacking off the job to sleep all day!** Now, if I catch you doing it again, I'll send out into orbit and watch as you float away gasping for breath then finally die!" Maria yelled at him, in the crudest way she could think of. Yelling at someone was _just _what she needed. It calmed the nerves… but damaged the ears with its high decibel count. She took a second to breathe then stared at Cliff, whose jaw was agape by the disturbing threat of Maria's.

"D-g-w-gahh…" Was all he managed to say. A crew member that passed by the room looked into the said room as though there was a freak show going on in there, but he quickly hurried by. "Er, well… Sorry…?" Cliff finally said. It probably didn't register in his brain until the 'gasping for breath' line left his head.

Maria sighed again and shook her head in disappointment. She probably should've saved the scolding for later since she had to ask him a question. "Anyways…" Cliff shook his head to focus again, then asked why Maria wanted him. "I need to know if Mirage and Sophia have contacted you yet."_Please, just __please__ say something that is of good news._

"Hmm… oh, yeah. She did not to long ago." He said rather lazily.

"You mean 'before you fell asleep on the job'?" Maria asked in an irritated tone.

"Doih… Yeah…" he rubbed his head again. Did he have some kind of rash? Probably a 'too blonde to be smart' rash…

"So, what did she say?"

"Umm…" Cliff said aloud as he tried to recall the conversation between him and Mirage earlier. "Oh, that's right. She said that she and Sophia finished re-supplying Airyglyph with food. But… now Aquios needs some of us to clear a path _all_ the way to Arias so that building supplies can be brought there."

Maria sighed. It was one thing after another, but she couldn't refuse. They _had _after all inflicted a lot of damage while they were there. "I see…" she shook her head. "Who will be going?" She hadn't volunteered yet for any of the jobs, seeing that she should stay on the Diplo. She _was _captain, after all.

Cliff rubbed his chin, "Well… you can probably go. Y'know, take a break from being on this ship all the time, get some fresh air…"

"Huh, me?" _Well, it does sound pretty nice. I'm starting to forget what the fresh breeze feels like… _she sighed again. "Well, that sounds good. But who will come with me? Surely, I'll need someone else with me who has good battle skills"

"Say, how about Fayt? You know how good he is in battle." Cliff said. _I sure hope this works out._

The blue haired one thought for a second. _Yes… Fayt is quite good in battle. He should do well… "_Sounds good to me. All right, then it's settled. I'll go tell him right away and in the meanwhile… _**get back to the bridge!**__"_

Xxxx

Fayt sat on a bench by the bridge with his head resting back. His blue bangs lying carelessly across his closed eyes. _Geez, there's nothing to do. I wanna go back to Elicoor and keep fighting. Why didn't I volunteer for the last mission? _He let out a deep sigh.

"Fayt?" Fayt jumped, startled by the sudden voice. He snapped his eyes open and turned his head to see Maria looking at him. She had her arms crossed and was staring intently at him, "It seems we have another mission on Elicoor II, and you and I are needed this time."

The young man got up excitedly and turned to face Maria. "_Yes_! A mission!" He cleared his throat, realizing how childish he had just sounded, then said, "Hmm, we are? What's the mission?"

"We have to clear a path of monsters from Aquios to Arias so that building supplies can be brought there safely. We'll leave soon, so just get your supplies ready in the meantime, all right? I wouldn't want you to be a burden." She said the last sentence smiling at Fayt.

Fayt smiled back. He was just glad to hear he could leave the Diplo. "Okay, sounds like a plan." He said happily.

Maria turned around and saw Mirage walking down the hall from the transportation room. "Hello Mirage, hello Sophia. How did the mission go? Were there any casualties?"

Mirage shook her head as Sophia stood behind her. "It went just as planned. No problems occurred." Mirage said in her emotionless voice again. Why does Mirage talk like that anyways?

Sophia peeked from behind Mirage. She suspiciously eyed the blue-hair people and raised an eyebrow. _What were they just doing? Maria better not be trying to steal Fayt from me, or I'll swear I'll… _She trailed off in her own thoughts but then said in a quiet voice, "What she said."

"So, who's volunteering in clearing the monsters? If, Cliff even told you guys what was going on." she gently clenched her fist. Cliff better not've forgotten to tell them, because if he did, she can imagine herself scolding Cliff.

"We are." Maria and Fayt said synchronously. They did it quite often, actually… They looked at each other and blinked from the awkward reply, but then put their attention back to Mirage and Sophia. Well, Mirage for most of the part, atleast. Sophia was still behind Mirage eyeing Fayt and Maria with a lot of meaningless thoughts flowing through her little, overworked brain.

Mirage tried to hold back her smirk. If she smirked, Fayt and Maria would suspect something. _Perfect, it seems he convinced her… but the scolding still seemed pretty fun. _She let out a small sigh but then sweetly smiled at Fayt and Maria. "Ahh, I see."

Maria tried guessing what the pause in Mirage's reply meant but decided to let it go and ask another question instead. "So, was it easy?"

Mirage put a hand on her hip. "Oh, you mean back on Elicoor II?" Maria nodded, "Well, there were some moderately strong enemies on the way there. It was colder in Airyglyph then normal, though."

Sophia interrupted, not being able to stand being left out of a conversation for so long. But honestly, the sentences were not really forming any type of conversation, yet Sophia was not able to tolerate it anyway. "Yeah, and there was this really ugly little dog that kept following us. I don't know what it wanted but it wouldn't leave us alone. So then I finally gave it a good kick to get it to leave us alone…" Pfsh, yeah. I bet the dog attacked her face, even though it couldn't harm a fly.

Mirage turned toward Sophia. "I had already informed you. He was probably after those sausages you stole from the inn!" Sophia shook her head vigorously.

"I told you, darn it! I didn't steal any sausages! He must've been after that hamburger you stole from me!" she puffed up her cheeks as her mouth twisted into an irritated scowl.

"I already said I didn't steal it from you! I would have eaten it right away if I stole it! Who carries around hamburgers, anyways?" The two girls continued bickering among each other while Fayt and Maria watched quietly in question. The argument was actually quite interesting. There was a sentence that involved 'your shirt looks like a dead rat', and then another one with 'creepy old fart' in it. At that point though, Fayt and Maria were already gone.

While they were walking down the stairs, Maria turned toward Fayt. "I don't understand why people can be so dull sometimes…"

"Yeah. Although, I would've expected different from Mirage." They then headed to their rooms to pack their belongings.

Xxxx

Fayt looked through his items in his room. He had so much junk; he didn't even know why he had all this crap in the first place. He found a rock that he must've found interesting at the time when he picked it up, but now he lost all interest in it and threw it away then continued searching for the necessities._Hmm, I should bring some spare clothes, blueberries… boy, I wonder how long they've been in here? Hahaha! Might be a hazard to get hit 'cause then I'd have to use these. Anyways… what else? These blackberries, my communicator… huh? _Fayt turned his head to face the door which opened as Sophia walked in. "Oh, hey Sophia."

Obviously, the squall between her and Mirage must've ended if she was walking in there, with all her limbs. Attached. "Hey, Fayt. Now that we've got some time alone, let's talk some! Did ya miss me?" she asked as she stood with her hands behind her back.

Fayt chuckled. "Hehe, of course. I missed your loud mouth and constant blabbering. Who couldn't?" he meant this as a joke, but people just didn't seem to take a joke as a _joke, _lately, now did they?

"Hey, that's rude to say, Fayt!" Sophia said angrily, but then wondered if she really _was _loud.

"Okay, okay. I was just kidding. Geez, can't you take a joke? Well, did you need something?" Fayt asked while continuing to pack his items.

Sophia put her hands on her hips and pouted. Geez! How old was she? Pouting was for little kids! Well, Fayt could pout all he wanted since he looked cute, but that's beside the fact. "Well, I _was _going to chat with my long-time friend I haven't seen in 4 days, but I've changed my mind now. Hmph!" at that last word she turned around and headed out through the bedroom door. As the sliding door started to close, she yelled out, "Jerk!" then the sound of her footsteps began to disperse.

Fayt rubbed the back of his head as he sighed. He _really _wasn't in the mood to hassle with Sophia's childish temper. He continued packing his stuff and throwing away more useless junk. He packed all his fresh sages, just in case. After that, he set his full backpack by his bed and decided to go find some armor in the storage room.

When he left his room, he stood by the door trying to remember where it was located. _I know it's upstairs somewhere… hmm… _He decided to just go look for it instead of trying to remember where it was. It seemed much easier that way anyways. He passed crew members who had already seemed to figure out him and Maria were soon going to go to Elicoor. Boy, news sure spread around quick on this ship.

He soon found the storage room and had help from another crewmember locating some good armor. He found a strong one that fit then left back to his room. When he arrived his stomach growled incredibly loud. _Man… I didn't know I was so hungry… _after that, he left his room and went to go get some food from the kitchen.

"Excuse me… can I get something to eat?" the cook turned around from facing the counter. He had some sauce smudged across his face and his apron was filthy with all sorts of food. Fayt moved back a little as the cook gave him a dirty look. A nametag on the cook read 'Nik'.

Nik said nastily, "Whadya talkin' about, kid? Lunch isn't gonna be made until about two hours from now."

Fayt protested. "But I'm hungry! I skipped breakfast!" Nik snorted.

"Is that my problem? It's not my fault you can't feed yerself. You shoulda prepared yerself for life on a flagship. You can't just come prancin' into the kitchen and openin' the fridge then eatin' whatever the hell you want like you can do at home." Fayt scowled.

"Can I just have a little snack? Anything? Even a little sandwich, come on!" Fayt pouted. He stared straight at Nik, who only laughed.

"Ahaha! You don't expect that beggin' will help, do ya?" Fayt's stomach growled super loud, again. This time, a couple of gurgles were thrown in there along with noises that sounded like a dinosaur dying. Nik stopped chewing on his gum which had long lost its flavour. "I didn't know you were _that_hungry, kid! Why didn't ya say so? Here, I'll go getta pre-made sandwich from the fridge, 'kay? Just hold your damned horses." Nik went to the fridge and pulled out a turkey sandwich then came back and handed it to Fayt.

Fayt grudgingly took the sandwich from Nik's hands. He managed a rude 'thanks' before he left the kitchen.

He finished the small sandwich in his room then lied down on his bed. Today was just too much. _Man… I'm so tired... _He closed his eyes then quickly fell asleep. There wasn't anymore preparation he had to do, so a nap was a good way to kill time.

Xxxx


	2. Time to Leave For Aquios

Xxxx 

Disclaimer: I don't own SO3 or any of it's characters. If you think I do or ever did, then I shall always and forever refer to you as a complete and total jackass.

**Author's Note: **Chapter two of my MariaxFayt fanfic! Oh, and in the last chapter, Nik belongs to me, I created him. Got that? LOL... it was fun teasing Fayt… you should try it sometime! Well, anyways.

**Nanaky: **I'm terribly sorry I didn't mention that this story doesn't really take place in the game. I never saw the Fayt and Maria ending either.

**dark drow: **Aww, thanks! I'll try to take my time with the story…

**Miss X: **Oh, u figured me out! Yes, there is some Sophia bashing… LOL, I don't like her too much either!

**KuraiMiko37: **Lol, I don't mean to be so mean to Cliff, but it's just fun…

**Maxmagnus20019: **I don't mind the yaoi... but yes, there is a bit too much of it. ((nervous laugh)) don't worry, lol. I'm actually much more excited about typing this and I'm not going to become too lazy.

**Xxxx**

**_Chapter 2: _**Time For the Mission!

**Xxxx**

Fayt suddenly woke up from a swift whack on the head. He sat up then looked around his room until his eyes focused on a woman with blue hair. His vision cleared, letting him know who the one was who had just whacked him. Maria crossed her arms. "Fayt…" she said in a worried, yet irritated, voice.

Fayt got up from his bed but he did it too quickly so he fell over from the dizziness. "Ouch!" he sat on the floor till the dizzy spell passed. He then got up and looked at Maria, who was obviously getting impatient with him. "What is it…?" he asked groggily.

"We have to leave soon. After some food, of course… I hope you packed all the stuff you're going to need. Unless you were… sleeping that whole time?" she tilted her head toward the bed as if to say 'you weren't sleeping there the whole time, were you?'.

Fayt immediately answered, not wanting to feel like a fool. "Of course not! I got my items and armor and weapon. I'm not _that _stupid." He froze, realizing what he just said. "Wait a second, I'm not stupid at all!" the effects of his nap must've still been overcoming his ability to think clearly. Maria giggled at him, making him feel even more embarrassed. "Well, what're we waiting for! I'm starving!" He walked out of the room and headed toward the cafeteria. Maria soon followed.

They entered the cafeteria, where Fayt saw Nik. He scowled at him, Fayt was still upset by the way Nik treated him when all he wanted was a small sandwich. Fayt sat at the large dining table with Maria where all the other crew members were. Steeg came in, followed by Lieber. Maria tried dodging Lieber's eyesight, but it was too late. He spotted her and rushed over to a seat by her and sat down. Maria let out a sigh. She set her face in her hands and rubbed her temples.

Nik put bowls of tasty-looking food on the table. As soon as all the food was on the table, everyone dug into what they liked the most. Fayt put some chicken legs and mashed potatoes on his plate. He had a corn-on-the-cob passed to him. Maria ate uncomfortably with Lieber by her. He was watching her eat, which you can imagine must be _very _uncomfortable.

Once Maria was done eating, she had no hesitations leaving the cafeteria. Fayt soon finished and followed. Fayt was held back by the door by his shoulder. He turned around to see Nik. "Hey, let go of me!"

"Wait, kid." Fayt stopped resisting to come free of Nik's grip. "I feel kinda bad for doing that to you your last visit in the cafeteria. So I decided to give you this." Nik held out an Umbai-o 13. Fayt took it then stared at it. "The latest from the kitchen, sells like lottery-tickets!" Nik patted Fayt on the back. "C'ya later, kid." Fayt watched as Nik left. Maybe Nik wasn't so bad after all.

"Wait! My name isn't 'kid', it's 'Fayt'…" Nik laughed.

"Whatever, kid." Fayt pouted again. He took back what he said about Nik not 'being so bad after all'. He put the Umbai-o in a pocket then hurried up to catch up with Maria. She was in her room putting her backpack on her back and putting away her gun in it's carrier on the back of her skirt.

"You need to get ready too, Fayt." She said to him when he walked in. "We need to leave for Aquios soon."

Fayt tilted his head. "Wait, already? We just ate…" Maria looked up at him.

"Of course. We've wasted enough time here already. We need to hurry up and leave. Now c'mon, go get your stuff. I'll be waiting by the stairs." At that, she left her room and headed for the stairs. Fayt watched as her hair swung back and forth so perfectly, it was so pretty... He snapped out of his daze then hurried to his room where he took his backpack and put it on then packed his armor and strapped his sword to his back. ((he actually straps it to his butt, but that sounds inappropriate LOL)).

He hurried to the stairs where Maria was waiting for him. When he got there she started walking up the stairs. She sure she wasn't taking her time. She must've been more eager then Fayt to leave the Diplo. She just tried not to show it. He followed her up the stairs but then they were stopped by, guess who? Of course, Lieber! Maria sighed again. She couldn't seem to get away from him for more then 10 minutes. Wait a second… he didn't have some kind of tracking device stuck to her, did he? She checked her clothes quickly before Lieber began to speak.

"Miss Maria!" he put his hand to his forehead in a salute. "P-please be careful! I'm worried you'll get hurt…" What he was _really _worried about was the fact that Fayt was with her, alone! He developed a dislike towards Fayt ever since he set a foot on the Diplo. What the hell did he have that Lieber didn't? Just because he has those _stupid powers, _Maria has to get all attached to him. It just wasn't fair!

"Lieber… you've already told me that five freakin' times, I'm telling you, I'll be perfectly fine. Besides, I've got Fayt with me." She smiled at Fayt, who was obviously freaked out by the glares Lieber was giving him.

_Of course… **Fayt.**_ He sighed then looked back at Maria. "Gah… okay, okay. You win. But still, be careful. I would never forgive _Fayt_ if he let you get hurt." He said Fayt's name with pure disgust. Poor Fayt, in the meanwhile, was totally confused as to why Lieber hated him so much.

Maria walked by Lieber as Fayt followed. When they were far enough, Lieber scowled at Fayt to show how much he loathed him. Maria and Fayt said good-bye to Steeg, Lancar, Marietta, Cliff, Mirage, and just about all the other Diplo crew members. They entered the transporter and said one last goodbye. As they started to disappear, Mirage turned toward Cliff and said. "Good job. I didn't think you could do it." Cliff waited as the other crew members became sparse around the transportation room.

"Gah…" Cliff rubbed the back of his head, "Well, it was easy. Besides, I knew my life was on the line if I failed." Cliff and Mirage have been planning to get Maria and Fayt together. They both knew what a cute couple they'd make. They just didn't know how easy or hard it was going to be.

"…You really think? I don't think I would've _killed _you... maybe just scold you till you were begging for mercy. But it looks like I didn't have to, now did I?" Cliff nodded in agreement. "I really didn't think you could do it… but then again, you _are _Cliff, and you're so unpredictable…"

Cliff didn't know what to say. Was she praising him? Or was she talking smack about him? "So… do I… get a surprise?" Mirage looked at him in a fed-up way, but then replied.

"Oh… and what would you like?" she said sarcastically.

"Hmm, well I was thinking…" he whispered in Mirage's ear. Mirage nearly gave him a concussion when she slapped him. A huge red hand mark was left on the side of his face.

"Ugh! Never in your _dreams!_" she stormed off to the bridge. Gawd Dammit Cliff, you ruined the mood! She was happy with you for once and you go and ruin it with your sick mind. Cliff rubbed his cheek, which stung incredibly badly. Crew members nearby gave Cliff looks as he got up then started to walk through the other hall to avoid Mirage. ((just to let y'all know, the Diplo has two halls on the first floor that lead to the bridge.))

**Xxxx**

_On Elicoor II…_

Fayt and Maria appeared in Irisa Fields. Fayt immediately realized where they were. "Y'know, I'm gonna hafta hurt one of your Diplo crew members. I don't know who put the transporter here, but couldn't they have _at least _put it closer to Aquios!" he sighed. "It's gonna take all day to get to Aquios now…"

"It can't be that bad… but if you really wanted to arrive sooner, we should've left sooner." Fayt knew that, but he didn't want to leave without lunch. That would suck lemons sooo badly. He'd probably pass out from starvation, and right in front of Maria! He'd seem so weak to her, he's already passed out more then once. Luckily, Maria wasn't in his party the first time…

((_flashback_))

_Fayt was almost to Kirlsa, along with his traveling party, Nel and Cliff. His head started pulsing and his vision became obscured and blurry. He was almost to the gate when all of a sudden he passed out cold. Everything became dark and the sounds around him faded away._

_He woke up to Nel's and Cliff's faces. He slowly sat up, dazed from lying out cold on the freezing ground. "What happened…? Did I pass out?" He asked._

_"Yup, out like a candle." Cliff said. "Are you sick or something? Or maybe you're just weak. Geez, how're you gonna attract the babes if you're **so damn weak**!" Fayt got up and protested._

_"I'm not weak! I just felt dizzy… and I'm not sick either!"_

_"Right, right… you couldn't even make it from Airyglyph to Kirlsa without passing out… and you call that not weak? I can see a long lonely life for you, kid…" Fayt became very upset. Nel watched as Cliff and Fayt were arguing. She didn't realize what a jerk Cliff could be till now._

_"Will you quit it? I'm not weak! And I'm not gonna have a long lonely life!" Fayt was losing his temper. Nel noticed and ran in between them._

_"You two are idiots! You'd both rather fight out in the cold then arrive in Kirlsa and sleep in a nice warm inn! Incase you haven't noticed, we're still running away from the Dragon Legion." She then started walking toward the gates as Cliff and Fayt followed. But, of course, Cliff needed to slip in one more word._

_"Weako…" Fayt then spit on Cliff's shoes in disrespect towards the older and harsher man._

_((end of flashback))_

Fayt still vividly remembered that scene, and he became angry just thinking about it. "Yeah, I know…" Fayt was beginning to doubt why even came back to Elicoor. Well… the fresh air felt great, and the breeze was blowing across his face and hair. It felt pretty nice, except for that… **_that smell. _**What the **HELL** was that putrid smell? Maria seemed to notice it also.

"Fayt, what's--…" she covered her nose. Fayt did the same thing.

He coughed, "I don't know, but it's making me sick to my stomach…" They looked around until they spotted the culprit; the rotting corpse of a Chameleon in the bushes. ((those big ones you fight, not a small regular one)) Maria's and Fayt's eyes widened in horror. Their pupils went small and sweat drops formed on their foreheads. Their faces went pale as ghosts.

Flies were flying all around the corpse. The eyes were completely gone, devoured by maggots. ((LOL, no, not the ones that Albel refers to XD)). White ribs could be seen through the half-eaten decaying flesh. Fayt grabbed Maria's hand and they dragged their asses away, _far far away_, from the disgusting scene and down toward the road. As soon as they were far enough, they stopped and panted for breath.

"Oh my…" Maria said as she took another breath. "That… that was so sick…" she lied down against a tree, as so did Fayt.

"I hope to never **_ever_** see something as sick as that, ever in my life again!" Maria agreed then they both decided to drop the subject and catch their breaths.

**Xxxx**

_Meanwhile, back at the Diplo…_

"Do you think Maria is okay? Maybe I should check up on her through her communicator…" Lieber asked Lancar again for only the billionth time. Lancar rubbed his temples in frustration as he gritted his teeth then turned his head toward Lieber.

"For the last time, it's only been 10 minutes! She's perfectly fine! Now, if you ask me that goddamn question just _one, more, time,_ I'm going to tell Maria how much you obsess over her day and night and how much you like her!" Of course, Lancar was just joking ((in a mean and cruel way)), but Lieber didn't know that.

"N-NO! Don't! I'll stop asking you, I promise!" Lieber then hurriedly went back to his work in the Diplo's bridge. If he asked that same question again, to anyone, he was going to be murdered right on the spot.

Cliff had apologized to Mirage, asking for forgiveness, until she finally gave in. He decided to ask about the plan. "Hey, Mirage… do you really think yer plan is gonna work? It's not like I'm saying it won't work, but I just wanna be sure."

"Of course it'll work, I planned it after all. You and I both know how Fayt and Maria get along. And if they were alone, without any Sophia or Lieber, then it's bound to be a success. When on Elicoor II, I even got Nel in on the plan." Mirage said confidently.

Cliff thought for a second. "Wait, what about Albel? Or… did he refuse?"

Mirage smirked. "Hehehe, he didn't quite approve. He was J-E-A-L-O-U-S, jealous! You know how possessive he is; he has a strange attachment to Fayt. Heehee, he'd do anything to keep Fayt _his._ So Nel is going to keep a watchful eye on him. And as for Roger, I didn't even tell him. He's only 12, he can't carry out a plan as crucial as this, let alone understand the situation. Clair is helping too, and Adray can go to hell."

Cliff shrugged, then his mouth stood agape. "Wait a sec, you mean _Albel _is jealous? That skirt-wearing weirdo is weirder then I thought…"

Mirage frowned. "Aww, c'mon now. Don't be so mean. I think it's sweet." She giggled but Cliff only crossed his arms then shook his head.

"Whatever… as long as you've got it under control…" he then ended the conversation.

Xxxx 

Fayt and Maria were on the road again. Even though it was the middle of the day, the weather was still very beautiful. The sun was partially blocked by some clouds and a cool breeze blew through their hair. It was quiet with some birds chirping, until Maria's communicator started beeping.

**Beep beep. BEEP BEEP. _BEEP BEEP BEEP!_**

"Argh! Fudg'in communicator! Who the hell is it!" she pulled out her communicator then opened it up and answered it. "Hello?"

Lieber's face appeared. Maria groaned. "_I'm s-sorry Miss Maria. But I just had to check on you. I was too worried!"_ Maria sighed.

_Why the hell won't he leave me alone…? _"Well, you see I'm perfectly fine. So can you go now?" she asked, well, more like pleaded since her voice did a little squeak in that last sentence. Lieber couldn't believe it. Did Maria just _squeak_ like…LIKE FAYT! That's it. She has been hanging around him too much.

"_Um, excuse me. But can I have a word with Fayt, **alone**?"_ Lieber said. Maria gave him a puzzled look but then handed the communicator to Fayt and walked away. Lieber lowered his voice to almost a growl. "_Listen up, buddie, you better not try anything with Maria or I'll personally track down and kill you."_ Fayt raised an eyebrow. Did Lieber just say what he thought he just said? Fayt was about to obey but then had a short, evil plan. He walked over to Maria with the communicator still in his hand. He made sure Lieber could see what was going on.

"Hey Maria." Fayt said. Maria turned around. Fayt put his arm around Maria's waist and pulled her closer. Lieber nearly fell off the chair he was sitting on. Lieber yelled through the communicator loudly.

"_Hey! YOU QUIT THAT! LET GO OF MARIA!" _Fayt smirked. All right, Lieber was PO'd. Now, for the finishing stunt. Maria stood confused. She didn't know what Fayt was doing. Fayt pulled Maria even closer then kissed her on the cheek. Lieber was hysterical, he wanted to kill Fayt right now, but he couldn't through a communicator. "_**WHAT? I'M G-GONNA KILL YOU B-BASTARD!"** _he then hung up the communicator.

Maria was blushing so badly. Her whole face was red. _He just kissed me! And he did it all of a sudden! _Maria tried to ask Fayt why he did that, but all that came out of her mouth was stutters. "W-w-w…"

Fayt closed the communicator then handed it to Maria. "It was the only way to get him to leave. He shouldn't be calling back for a while now." He winked at her then took his arm off from around her waist and continued walking toward Aquios. Maria tried making her blush disappear but it wasn't working. Her face was burning. She put away the communicator then ran after Fayt.

She shyly walked by Fayt making sure not to make eye contact with him. If she did, she would blush again. Whenever she thought about that little smooch he gave her, her face gets red all over again. _D-dammit Fayt! Why'd you do that?_ Secretly, she enjoyed it. But it was just so embarrassing. On the other hand, Lieber was going crazy. His hate-meter for Fayt just boiled over.

Xxxx 

**Author's Note: **How did you like it? I hope it was good. I really tried my best. There was originally more for this chapter, but I decided to end it here and put the rest in the next chapter. Please review!


	3. Interference with Albel

Xxxx 

Disclaimer: Honestly people, if I owned these characters, then I would be Tri-Ace. And if I _was _Tri-Ace, I would _hire _people to type this up for me.

**Author's Note: **I don't know when I should have that federation dude I mentioned in my summary to come and capture them… but I'm thinking that it should be somewhere near Arias... Well, no use thinking about it now. I'm not even there yet… I think this story is progressing quite well. Yay, Albel comes into the story now! Oh, and for these of you who might've been thrown of by what Mirage said about Albel… This isn't a yaoi fic, so there won't be AlbelxFayt ((even though I love it)), so I'm terribly sorry if I gave you the wrong impression… my deepest apologies to all who don't like AlbelxFayt.

**Miss X: **As I mentioned before, you don't hafta worry about any yaoi. This is a FaytxMaria fanfic, no need to worry!

**Macky: **Okay!

**KuraiMiko37: **Sophia must dieee! Heehee, I'm glad I made you laugh!

**Nanaky: **Hehe, aw'right! I love good reviews! Oh, I know! I just **had** to make Fayt push Lieber over the edge, _way over it._ LOL!

**Asga**: lol, okay. Thankies!

**Moric: **You really think? Thank you so very much!

Xxxx 

**_Chapter 3: _**Interference with Albel

Xxxx 

Fayt and Maria were walking for about an hour. The temperature got a little hotter, causing them to slow down. Fayt checked the distance to Aquios. His communicator read 2 kilometers. ((ok, it seems so much shorter in the game, but the fields are kind of like maps. It takes longer for them to get somewhere in there time. For us, it takes about 2 minutes. The only way for them to arrive in Aquios within two minutes, is if they ran so freakin' fast that their legs fell off their asses)).

They didn't talk the whole hour while they were walking. And you can imagine why. The whole thing that happened back there seems to turn everyone quiet. It kept getting hotter, which was odd, since it usually cools down around 2 or 3 in the afternoon on Elicoor. Fayt and Maria were becoming exhausted.

"Fayt… let's take a break. I'm getting really thirsty and my legs are getting tired…" Maria said, breaking the cold silence that had settled over their heads. She was nearly dragging her feet across the dirt road.

"Yeah, you're right. We've still got three kilometers to walk, and exhausting ourselves isn't good for the battle's we're going to get into." Fayt said. They walked over to a huge tree with a lot of shade under it. Fayt sat down along with Maria. Fayt wiped his forehead then took his backpack off his shoulders. "I need some water…" he kept digging through the bag but only pulled out an empty canteen. "Aw fudge! I fergot to fill my canteen with water! Damn, I must've gotten too carried away that I fergot about it…"

Maria reached for her backpack and pulled out two ice cold canteens. They were so cold, that little vapor droplets were running down them. She handed one to Fayt. "I decided to bring another one, just in case... Looks like it's good that I did, huh…?" she still wouldn't look straight at Fayt. Fayt noticed it.

"Y'know…" Maria slowly looked toward Fayt, who rubbed his head. "I'm sorry for what I did back there... But Lieber was threatening me and, well, I thought it would be fun to mess with him and I got a little carried away. It's not like it really meant anything…" But to Fayt, it _did _mean a little something. Maria slightly blushed. She understands why Fayt did that, but it still made her blush.

"It's ok. It's not like I hate you or anything for it. At least you got Lieber off my back." _I'm not going to tell him that I **appreciated** that kiss. Besides, it was only the cheek and he said it didn't really mean anything…_ She took a big drink of her water before she put it away. It got a little quiet as Fayt finished drinking then put away the canteen.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look pretty cute when you blush?" Maria looked up at Fayt. Her big green eyes blinked in confusion.

_He just called me cute…? _"No, not rea-…" right at that second, a dark figure jumped down from the tree. Maria squealed in shock then hid behind Fayt. She looked over his shoulder to see who the intruding person was. Both her and Fayt were shocked to see red eyes and a giant gauntlet.

"Albel!" they said in shock. Maria got out from behind Fayt then stared at Albel.

"Albel, what're you doing here? H-how long have you been up there?" Maria asked frantically. Both her and Fayt were surprised by Albel's sudden 'drop in'.

Albel crossed his arms then stared at the two teens sitting on the ground next to each other. Maria's hand was uncomfortably close to Fayt's. ((well, uncomfortable for Albel at least)). He walked through them, causing them to take their hands off from the ground.

"I heard you were coming… so I decided to check up on you maggots." Maria and Fayt tilted their heads. ((wow, Maria _is _turning into Fayt!))

"Wait… how did you know? There couldn't be any way for you to know, Maria and I were chosen yesterday for the mission, _after _Mirage and Sophia got back, so no one could've told you." Fayt said. Albel was going to try and ruin Mirage's plan. He smirked. This was perfect; he had confused the two younger people and would now probably believe anything he told them without second thoughts.

"Yes… how _did _you know Albel?" Maria pondered over the question. Albel turned around toward Fayt and Maria then walked through them again.

"Oh, she hasn't told you?" his smirk widened.

"Who's… 'she'? Who hasn't told us 'what'?" Maria asked.

A bush by Albel rustled. He turned toward it then watched it with keen eyes. The bush didn't move again so he turned back toward the teens. "Stupid idiot bush wasting my time… anyways. The one that hasn't told you is that fool you call M-…" he was suddenly pounced and knocked to the ground by a red-haired woman.

"Nel!" Maria and Fayt said once again in shock.

Nel slowly got off of Albel, whose face was slammed straight into the ground. She dusted herself off then sighed in relief. She fixed her hair then looked at Fayt and Maria, who couldn't understand why all these old friends of theirs were popping up out of nowhere. ((literally)) They watched as Albel got up off the dirt ground. He wiped dust off his clothes, face, and hair.

Maria and Fayt blinked. Nel shook her head. Albel nearly spoiled the plan, and that would've been bad. Albel's forehead pulsed as he pointed his finger at Nel. "You! Why the hell'd you go and do that for!" Nel put her hands on her hips.

"You know damn well why I did that. Be glad I didn't do worse!" she said.

"Oh, is that supposed to be some kind of threat, scumbag? Well, I'll have you know, I kill anyone who threatens me." He crossed his arms and put his nose in the air.

"Grr... Listen, Albel…" Nel then grabbed Albel by his good arm then dragged him far away so that Fayt and Maria couldn't hear them. Fayt and Maria watched as they walked away. Poor guys, they were so confused, if they got anymore confused, their brains would explode. "Albel!" Nel whispered harshly. "What the **hell** are you doing! If you try and ruin Mirage's plan I'll hurt you so bad that I swear you'll never see the light of day, _ever again!_" Albel only 'hmphed' then turned around so that his back faced Nel.

"Oh, really? I can ruin that moron's plan if I want to, and you can't do anything about it." Fayt and Maria watched Nel and Albel in the background. Maria asked Fayt.

"What do you think's going on?" she said in his ear as she still watched the two warriors fighting.

Fayt shrugged. "Who knows."

"Albel! Why can't you just accept it? Fayt is going to fall for Maria and you'll be left out of his life. No matter what you do. They're gonna get together whether you like it or not!. And I'm making sure of that. " _Damn you Albel! Just leave Fayt the hell alone. I'd be sorry if I were him right now, poor Fayt… I don't understand why Albel is so jealous, unless… he… **likes him!** _Nel let out a little evil laugh. Albel stared at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What're you laughin' at, maggot?" Nel's laugh continued to grow a little louder.

"Heehee…" she tried to stop for a second. "I-it's nothing… Hahaha!" Albel was getting irritated. He took a step closer then said more angrily.

"Quit with the shit, Zelpher, and tell me what the hell you're laughing at." Back with Fayt and Maria, they were still watching the argument even though they couldn't hear a word they said. They watched as Nel leaned over and whispered into Albel's ear. She then backed off and started laughing her head off. Albel took a step back in shock then started to yell at her. Nel kept laughing and she was starting to bang the ground. Albel became even madder then whacked Nel on the head and walked away. They heard as Nel stopped laughing then rubbed her head and watched as Albel walked toward the forest. He was probably going to go chop off some bandit heads to bring down his temper.

Fayt said to Maria, "I think we're missing something here…" Nel finally walked back over to him and Maria. Her face was red from lack of air when she was laughing.

"I'm sorry, guys. I had to settle something with Albel." She was about to apologize also for making them late to get to Aquios, but then she stopped herself. "So… what're you two doing here? Are you the ones the queen wants for the mission?"

"Yeah, we both decided to go." Nel nodded. "Hey, wanna come with us?" Fayt said.

Nel violently shook her head 'no'. "Oh, no no no! I have some duties to attend to." _I can't come along on their mission, they need time alone. But that doesn't mean I won't follow them… I still have to keep an eye out for Albel…_ "But thanks anyways."

Fayt and Maria finally got off the ground. The temperature dropped a little and they could finally walk all the way to Aquios. "Well, we better get going now. C'ya later Nel. Come on Fayt." Maria and Fayt continued their walk toward Aquios.

"Bye guys!"

Xxxx 

The gates of Aquios could finally be seen not too far away. "Aw'right, we're finally almost there!" Fayt said. "How about we race the rest of the way? Winner gets this." Fayt pulled the Umbai-o 13 Nik gave to him out of his backpack.

Maria took the snack then examined it. "Hey… this looks pretty good. Okay, then you're on. Let's race to Aquios." She handed the snack back to Fayt then got ready to start running. Fayt did the same.

"On the count of three…" he said. "One…two… hey!" Maria had already made a run for Aquios. Fayt quickly followed her. "Get back here!" Maria and Fayt continued to run for about 30 seconds.

"Better catch up Fayt! Or I'm gonna win! Ahah-…" she tripped on a loose stone gravel on the path and fell straight forward, flat on her face. ((_DAMN! _That must've _hurt!)) _Fayt ran past Maria and through the gates then raised his hands in victory. Maria got up then rubbed her nose. "Ugh, NO FAIR! I tripped!"

"Looks like we're even then, eh, _loser?_" he laughed in a mocking way at Maria. She walked over to Fayt.

"I think my nose is bleeding…" she pulled her hand away to see some blood on it.

Fayt walked over to Maria. "Oh… I didn't know you hit the floor so hard… I'll get you something." He took his backpack and pulled out a box of napkins.

"You carry a box of Napkins with you…?" Maria asked in a somehow confused way.

The blue-haired guy laughed a little. "Ofcourse, you never know when you'll need them." He handed some tissues to Maria then put the box away. Maria held the napkin up to her nose then held her head back.

"I can't see ahead of me like this."

"But you need to, Maria. Well, how about I lead you then? Don't worry, I won't lead you into any walls." Fayt said jokingly.

"I wasn't worried about it till _you _mentioned that. Um, okay then. But make sure I don't trip again or something." She held out her arm for Fayt to grab.

"You don't have to worry. You can trust me." He smiled, even though Maria couldn't see it, then grabbed her arm and slowly started leading her on the Aquios road. When they got to the shops, Maria's nose stopped bleeding and she could put her head down.

"Well, looks like you don't need me to lead you anymore." Fayt said to Maria as she threw away the tissue then walked back over to Fayt,

She put her arm in his then smiled and said, "I think I like it better this way." _Woah, wait. Did I just do that! I can't believe it, what if he pushes away from me…?_

Fayt's arm wrapped tighter around Maria's. "You're right, it did feel better this way," he smiled at her. Maria's worries disappeared. She blushed a little. His smile seemed so cute to her, she didn't want to keep staring. They started walking again toward the castle.

Xxxx 

Guards let Maria and Fayt pass as they walked into the doors of Aquios Castle. They headed toward the queen's throne room. They parted their arms before they walked into the castle, so they entered the room separately. Fayt kneeled before the queen as Maria did the same.

"Hello, your majesty." They both said, bowing.

"Hello there, Fayt, Maria. I see you two are the ones who offered to help with the mission?" Queen Romeria said. ((I think that's her name…))

"Yes, we are."

"Ah… I presume you would also like to know the exact details of your mission?"

"Yes, please."

"Well, as you must have already heard, you will need to clear a path of monsters from here all the way to Arias. These building supplies are very important and must be brought there to help rebuild damaged areas of the town. I will have my runologists prepare the items for the both of you to help escort tomorrow. You will need to leave early, which I have gotten reports that that is when the stronger enemies start to move about. A guard just outside the room will show you to your room. You must be tired from traveling all day, so go ahead and rest and buy all the supplies you need. Please, be careful and don't over exhaust yourselves. You are now excused." Queen Romeria finally finished off her sentence.

Fayt said 'thank you your majesty', and then him and Maria left the throne room. They saw the guard, as the queen had said, and they followed him. He led them downstairs and to the guest room, which Fayt had rested in before.

"Here is your room." The guard said roughly then walked away. Maria and Fayt walked into the small room with two beds neatly made. Fayt took off his backpack then threw it on the bed near the window. Maria then set her backpack on the other bed. Maria was just about to sit down when her communicator started beeping, _again. _Maria sighed but then took her communicator and answered it.

"Hello?" Marietta replied with an exasperated 'hello'.

"_Hello, Miss Maria."_ Maria noticed that she looked worried.

"Is something the matter? Surely you wouldn't call me unless there was a problem."

_"Well, yes… all the other crew members and I are having problems controlling Lieber, we don't know what happened to him, but he's going crazy. We just couldn't take it anymore so I had to call you. Maybe you can help us?" _Marietta pleaded.

Maria put her free hand to her chin. "What's he doing?"

_"Well… he keeps yelling things like 'I'm gonna kill him!' and 'Once I see him I'm going to take that sword of his then slam it down on him and cut him in two!' It's starting to become crazy. He won't listen to us and he won't calm down."_

Fayt was laughing in the background. He couldn't believe how badly he pissed off Lieber. Maria looked back at Fayt then scowled at him, which caused him to stop laughing. Maria turned back toward the communicator. She sighed heavily, there's only one thing to do… one thing she'll regret for the rest of her life. She gulped then said to Marietta, "Um, Marietta? Would you mind and try to get Lieber on the communicator?…"

Marietta raised an eyebrow, but quickly agreed_. "Of course, anything Miss Maria. I just hope he'll listen and that you can stop him…"_ Maria was almost hyperventilating while she waited for Lieber to get on the communicator.

His face appeared, red and exhausted. _"C-captain Maria…? Oh, thank goodness you're all right! That bastard isn't still near you, is he! He's gonna die! So help me… if I was there he would be dead!" _Maria cringed. She took a deep breath then said shakily.

"Oh, honey… please calm down. This isn't healthy for you, you know?" Fayt nearly died. Did Maria just call him '**HONEY'!** He was about to yell out at her but then decided to shut up as she continued. "You don't have to worry. I think about you every single second of the day, I can't wait to get back to you…" she made an attempt to hold back her face of disgust. This was just **_too_** much. How could someone talk to Lieber in such an intimate way, and yet not vomit?

Lieber gasped at the other end. Was Maria, this Maria right on front of him ((well, on the screen)), really talking to him in this way? Was it possibly, that maybe she felt the same way for him that he felt for her? _"Wh-wha…? Oh, M-Maria…" _That was the first time Lieber said her name without anything added to it. He must've forgotten in all the confusion.

"So, please do it for me, pretty please, baby? Don't worry about anything, I'll be back soon." She batted her eyelashes, which made both her and Fayt nearly pass out over.

_"Of course! Anything for you! Good-bye, my love!" _Lieber then turned off the communicator then pranced through the halls of the Diplo with a huge smile plastered across his face. Maria fell over on her bed and gasped. That must have been the hardest thing she has ever done. Fayt still stood shocked, but then started laughing his head off at the whole scene Maria just pulled.

"AHAHAHAHA! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST SAID THAT TO HIM! HAHAHAHAHA!" Fayt was now rolling on his bed, laughing to tears. "HAHAHAHA! Lieber is probably drooling over what you just said, hahahaha!" he snorted then continued laughing. Maria scowled then grabbed the communicator and chucked it at Fayt's forehead. "Oww!" he stopped laughing then sat up on the bed.

"It wasn't funny! Now he thinks I _love him_! But it was the only way to get him to calm down… and if you mention this to anyone, _anyone at all_, I'll hurt you so bad that your great-grandpa will get a bump!_" _she raised a fist, but then Fayt rubbed his head.

"Wait, what the hell's that s'possed to mean?"

Maria shrugged. "Iunno… I heard it off the TV. It sounded threatening… wow, I think I've been watching too much TV lately…" Fayt nodded.

"Yeah, you have." He then laid back down but then sat up. "Y'know… the monsters here are gonna be tough. I think I'm gonna go 'Specify' my weapon in the workshop. Care to join me?" Maria looked at him from her seat on her bed.

"Sure." They both walked out of the room, leaving their backpacks behind but taking their weapons.

Xxxx 

**Author's Note: **Okay, I know. I went a little crazy with that last scene, but torturing and humiliating the SO3 characters is what I live for! Well, not really, that's a bit cruel… please review and tell me what you think! Oh, and I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, I couldn't type for like 3 days, 2 of which I was at the Anime Expo. (( I didn't see a single SO3 cosplayer, **_dammit!_**))Once again, please oh _please _review! Reviews are highly appreciated and they inspire me to continue typing!


	4. New Feelings?

Xxxx 

Disclaimer: I don't own Fayt, Maria, or anything else in this chapter. The only thing I own is the computer I typed this chappie on. Wait a second… I don't even own _that!_ ((cries))

**Author's Note: **I think that I like how this story is turning out so far. I'm still using filler chapters before the real story begins, just to build up the actual story. But don't worry, I _will _eventually get to the part where they get captured… so please don't give up on me, I'm trying my best!

**FFFX: **Tee-hee, thanks! Don't worry, I intend to complete this whole story.

**Moric: **Lol, Fayt only laughed. What a bastard he is. Thanks!

**KuraiMiko37: **Yes, I finally was able to type the rest of chapter 3! Lol, yep, that's me! Always trying to make the craziest things happen in Star Ocean!

**Dinkus: **Thank you a lot! Albel and Nel rock.

**Macky: **Thanks very much!

**asga: **Heehee, thanks! Lol, I felt like doing something to Maria… the men had enough torture. XD. Poor poor Maria…

Xxxx 

**_Chapter 4:_** New Feelings?

Xxxx 

The guards to the entrance of the castle moved once again to let Fayt and Maria pass. They walked through big crowds, getting bumped and pushed and shoved. As they went through a certain crowd, some big person ran by Maria then bumped her hard, knocking her over. She landed on the ground as Fayt stopped to turn around.

"Ouch! Hey, watch where you're going, bastard!" Fayt ran over to her and helped her up. They watched as the jerk that knocked Maria over continued to run without a backward glance.

"Are you okay?" Fayt asked her.

Maria rubbed her bum then answered, "Yeah, but that dude was rude! Man, I hate Aquios. Well, anyways. Let's hurry to the workshop and specify our weapons, we need to get to sleep early tonight to leave tomorrow, 'kay?" Fayt nodded then followed her as she turned into a corner to go to the workshop.

"Oh, I kind of forgot… which building was the workshop?" Maria stopped to think. Fayt smiled then walked in front of her. He grabbed her hand then walked to a building.

"It's this way. Hehe…" Maria pouted a little.

"Hey, were you laughing?" she said angrily.

Fayt said nervously, "Uh, of course not!" Maria stared straight at his face.

"Yeah you were! You were laughing 'cause I fergot where the workshop was!"

"No, seriously, I wasn't! C'mon, don't you believe me? I wasn't laughing, it was just a, uh… well, I know it wasn't a laugh, so don't get all worked up." Fayt sighed. He should've kept his mouth shut. Now he made Maria mad at him.

"Hey, who's getting worked up! I'm not getting worked up, you started it by laughing!" Fayt finally decided to give in to the argument.

"Okay, okay… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start anything. Really, I didn't. Let's just hurry to the workshop." He continued to walk quicker to the workshop.

Maria bit one side of her cheek in thought. "Well… okay. I forgive you. But, just don't laugh or anything that sounds like it, 'kay? It's not easy keeping up with the job I have. Everyone depends on me and if I screw up, they lose faith in me…" they walked into the workshop. Fayt stopped.

_Is her job really that hard? Does she really think that everyone will lose faith in her if she fails at her job? _Fayt turned to look at her. "Maria… no one's gonna lose faith in you if you screw up at your job. They would never do that. They may depend on you, but don't ever think you have to always do a perfect job. Everyone messes up once in a while…" Maria looked up at Fayt with worried eyes, but then she sighed and looked down.

"You may be right… but I still have to do my job right no matter what… Now let's get to work, we only have a couple of hours before sundown, then we'll need to go back to the castle and get some sleep." Fayt sighed as he followed her to the desk. Did she even let what Fayt said, affect her? Will she really think she doesn't have to work hard, or will she continue to become worried over what the Diplo's crew members think of her?

_Xxxx_

Fayt's sword was specified first. It actually didn't take too long to add effects to it. He was able to get '+1000 attack' five times, 'shoots balls of light when attacking', and 'gain 10 percent more EXP'. Fayt held up the sword and looked at it.

"Wow, this sword is definitely gonna work good in battle now. I can't wait to use it!" Maria nodded.

"Yeah, and it didn't cost too much fol either. We've still got a lot left to specify my weapon." Maria then took her weapon and her and Fayt began to work on it. After a while, both of their weapons were improved. Maria's gun also had new effects added to it, 'Increase HP by 10 percent', '+1000 attack' six times, and 'resistance to fire.'

"So, I guess we're done here, huh? These weapons should work well in battle. Oh, but now we've still gotta re-supply. C'mon, let's hurry!" Maria said as she grabbed Fayt's hand then walked out of the workshop. But as she opened the door and walked out of it, the door started closing before Fayt got out. The door closed on his foot, causing him to fall.

He came crashing down on Maria's legs, causing her to tumble over also. Maria landed with a thud as she hit the floor. _Thud! "_Oww… what the hell…? Fayt?" she turned around to see Fayt's upper body on her legs. "Fayt!"

Fayt opened his eyes then rubbed his head. He froze as he moved his head up. His face turned a bright red color. He had a clear view up Maria's skirt. Maria blushed. She hurried up and pulled herself out from under Fayt. ((least I remind you, he still had a good view of up her skirt)). Fayt hurried and got up off the ground after he pulled his foot out of the door. "Oh, Maria! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to…!" Maria's blush grew redder.

"I-it's ok. It was just an accident, anyways! Eheheh… well, we better hurry up to the shop." She pulled her skirt down some more, even though it wouldn't stretch down any farther. She hurried and walked into a store. Fayt rubbed his head in shame then hurried after her.

_Aw, man. She probably thinks I'm the biggest jerk now. I'm so sorry Maria! _He trailed off in his thoughts, he kept apologizing, but then a different thought came into his mind. He could see lace that lined her panties through the black tights. Fayt blushed extremely red. _No! Don't think something like that! God, I'm not some freaking pervert! _He mentally slapped himself then walked into a shop.

_Xxxx_

Maria quietly looked at the stores wares. Fayt once again embarrassed her. Well… this time, by the door of the workshop. _Damn you, Fayt! Why'd you hafta go and trip! Clumsy idiot! Now you have a good image of what my underwear looks like! This just isn't right, what'd I ever do to deserve this! _She sighed. Her face was still a little red.

Fayt was on the other side of the shop, since he was too embarrassed to go near Maria. He felt absolutely terrible for what happened at the workshop. And to make it worse, he saw right up her skirt! He shook the thought away and continued looking.

His communicator started beeping. Maria looked, across the other side of the shop, at him. She watched as he opened it. "Hello?" On the communicator screen, Sophia's face appeared. She had a huge smile on, probably to welcome Fayt. Although… the smile was annoying, _really annoying._ Fayt's eye twitched as he tried to hold back his irritated scowl.

_"Heeeyyy Faaaayyyyttt!"_ she said. Fayt sighed then tried to manage a little smile. He really wasn't in the mood to be talking with some bimbo.

"Oh, hey Sophia. Why'd you call?" he tried making it sound a little annoyed, but it looked like Sophia didn't notice.

_"I just wanted to check up on you. I haven't seen you since yesterday, let alone talk to you. So, where are you now?" _she was lying on her bed, with her communicator in one hand as her chin rested on the back of her other one.

"Well, I'm at Aquios…" Maria decided to move in closer to hear the conversation better. "I'm kind of busy now, though. Me and Maria are shopping for supplies. I don't really have time to talk now."

Sophia scowled, _"Oh, **really** Fayt? Then why is Maria looming around you like that? What is she doing?" _Fayt looked away from his communicator to the left of him. Maria was clutched to his arm, giving Sophia a glare.

"What're you doing, little brat? Can't you just leave us alone? We oughtta prepare for tomorrow, we really don't have any time to chat with you. So can you just leave now? You're getting really annoying with your stupid questions."

Fayt let out a little gasp. Why was Maria doing this? "M-Maria… what're you doing…?" Sophia didn't appreciate being talked to like that, especially by Maria!

"_Hey! I'm not gonna leave!"_

"Well, you need to. We need to buy stuff and get some rest, and you're only wasting our time. Lieber was a pain-in-the-ass enough already, we don't need you nagging us." Maria now had her hands on her hips.

_'Argh! You dumb bitch!" _Maria's mouth stood open in shock. Sophia just called her a bitch! Ohoho… now it was _ON. _Fayt backed off in fright as Maria grabbed the communicator.

"You're calling _me _a bitch! You're the little dumb bitch, you freaking bimbo!" the shopkeeper and another guest were now staring at Maria, who had the communicator clutched angrily in her hand.

"_Of course! Only a bitch would say that to someone, oh wait. Make that a **cowardly **bitch! Since she isn't talking to the person face to face!"_

"Why the hell are you using third person view to talk? I'm right here! Wait, you're not a bitch, you're a **_retarded _**bitch!" Fayt was now shocked beyond words. He never saw Maria or Sophia goin' at it so harshly before. They must've been holding up that anger and jealousy until it exploded. The name-calling continued. Fayt just decided to go buy some supplies as Sophia and Maria fought.

Maria became so mad, that she flipped Sophia off. Sophia finally decided to drop the argument. She wasn't going to win anyways. _"YOU KNOW WHAT? I WON'T CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION! GOOD-BYE, Oh, and YOU are the **BITCH!**_" Sophia finished off the sentence then left the communicator. Maria clenched her fist. She was about to yell again but it was no use since Sophia had already left. She growled then gave Fayt's communicator back to him.

"I'm gonna kill that skirt-flipping little idiot…" Fayt raised an eyebrow. Maria looked at him. "What? Oh, yes… I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen. It's just… her voice really annoys me and I felt like snapping at her to leave. Then it turned into a big fight. You and everyone else probably didn't need to hear that." Fayt nodded.

Maria sighed. Fayt reassured her. He patted her back, "It's okay. I couldn't stand her either, but I never had the guts to tell her off. She would become really mad at me, and it gets really annoying since she ignores me when she's mad. But even though she's ignoring me, she always tries to get my attention. Weird, isn't it? Anyways, I got the supplies we need so we can go back to the castle now." He walked out of the shop and Maria followed him

_Xxxx_

They walked into their room. Fayt set down the bag of groceries then put his weapon by his backpack along with his bag of fol. Maria did the same with her weapon. "Mmmnn…" Fayt stretched. "I guess we better go to bed now. It's already night out. We probably should've been back about thirty minutes ago." He took off his sword strap then the armoring on his legs. All that was left was a pair of black pants and a white sleeveless shirt with black lining and a zipper. Maria's only seen Fayt in his battle clothes. She never saw him in casual clothes. Without all that armor on, he actually looked pretty cute. He had nicely shaped arms with round, toned muscles. The black pants fit nicely around his legs and the white shirt also shaped his torso. Maria looked away, so that she wouldn't be caught staring.

Maria took off her shoes and jacket. She removed the armor on her chest and middle-torso. She removed the gloves and all that was left was a black zip-up mini dress with white lining and some black tights. She let herself fall forward onto her bed. She took in a deep breath and breathed in the fresh aromas of the newly cleaned sheets. She rolled over onto her back then looked at Fayt who was sitting up on his bed. "Hey, Fayt, would you mind turning off the lamp for me?" Fayt got up.

"No problem." He turned a small dial on the lamp to the left to make the light go out. The lamp was probably powered by symbology, he thought. He walked over to his bed and laid down. He yawned then said to Maria, "G'night…" she pulled the covers over herself.

"Good night, Fayt…"

_Later on in the night…_

Fayt woke up. He turned around in his bed. To his surprise, green eyes were staring straight back at him. "Whoa!" he backed off but then realized the pair of eyes belonged to Maria. "Maria? Is something the matter?" he sat up a little, supporting himself on the back of his elbows.

Maria sighed then closed her eyes. "I'm sorry Fayt, I don't mean to bother you in your sleep, but, it's just… I had a bad dream…" she looked down at the covers of Fayt's bed in shame. "I haven't had a bad dream since I lost my parents. At that time, I had Mirage to turn to… but now I shouldn't be still having bad dreams and waking someone else up. I'm a captain now, I know I'm supposed to be independent 'n all… man, I'm sorry for rambling on like this…" Fayt took a second to think.

"It's ok Maria. I already told you it's ok to not be all high and mighty all the time and expect people to depend on you. Everyone needs a little support sometimes. I don't mind that you woke me up, but…" Fayt rubbed his eyes. "Is there something you need?" Maria only sighed again.

"No, not really… there isn't anything you can really do… I guess I should just let you get back to sleep…" she was starting to get up when Fayt said something else.

"If you need anything just ask. If it'll help you get back to sleep… 'Cause we both need a lot of sleep tonight. So don't hesitate to say anything." Fayt watched as Maria thought. She would shake her head slightly but then close her eyes to think. She finally nodded then turned to Fayt.

"Well… I don't want to seem like a little kid… but… can I sleep with you tonight?" she asked the question in a tiny voice, unsure of Fayt's reaction.

"What? You serious?" Maria sighed.

"See? I knew you'd say no…"

"No, wait. I didn't say 'no'. It's just… a weird request… but, I guess so, if it'll help you fall back asleep…" he rubbed his head. He scooted over on his bed for room for Maria. Maria hesitantly sat down by him. She then pulled her legs over the side of the bed and laid down. She laid with her eyes open and the covers pulled up to her mouth. Fayt noticed, once again, "Y'know, you aren't gonna get back to sleep with your eyes open."

Maria wasn't listening, though. _I-I… I don't know if I should move closer to him. It'll definitely help me fall back asleep, but it just doesn't seem right. If I were still a little girl, I wouldn't mind… _Fayt still waited for her reply.

"Something's still bothering you… what is it? It's obvious that you're still not gonna fall asleep easily." Maria turned onto her side to face Fayt.

"It's just… well…" Maria was close to the edge of the bed, pushed as far away from Fayt as possible. She couldn't fall asleep like that; she'd fall off the bed. But she was too shy to move closer to Fayt, yet she didn't want to be alone, either. Well… moving closer to him was the only way to fall back asleep. "I…I really don't know… can I, um… move closer to you?" she pulled the covers over her head in embarrassment. Fayt smiled.

"Of course. You said you had a bad dream. It's only natural to wanna stay near someone. I used to do this with Sophia all the time. But I think she faked having a bad dream most of the time." Maria looked at him. She slowly started scooting closer to him. Slowly… slowly… She finally ended up by his side, where she still hesitated to get too close. "Okay, now this is getting ridiculous, Maria…" Maria huffed. She finally got close enough to him as to where she could feel him breathing on her.

Fayt put his arm around Maria to comfort her. She jumped a little. She still hesitated about the whole thing. Damn that nightmare, damn it to hell. It woke her up and now it won't let her fall back to sleep quickly. "F-Fayt…?"

"What, you don't wanna get back to sleep? I'm doing this to comfort you, it's supposed to help. But if yer gonna be jumpy about it, then I can just take my arm away." Fayt frowned a little. He didn't understand why Maria was acting so weird. Maybe she just wasn't used to being comforted by someone else. She's usually so independent. _Ah… that must be it…_

"N-no. I don't want you to let go… I'm sorry… but please don't take your arm away. It feels comforting…" she calmed down as Fayt pulled her in closer.

"Well, goodnight now. Please try and get some sleep." Fayt closed his eyes.

"Okay… goodnight…" she closed her eyes and finally fell asleep.

_Xxxx_

Maria woke up first in the morning. By the color of the light that was entering the room. She assumed the sun must've been rising above the horizon. She slowly sat up then pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She set her chin on top of her knees. It was still very early, but she and Fayt would have to leave soon.

She stared quietly at the wall. Birds were chirping outside. The sounds were so calming… and the orange light entering the room reflected off the wooden desk. It looked so pretty… she closed her eyes to absorb all the serenity in the room. But it was all ruined when the covers around her were jerked toward Fayt. She looked at him as he slid off the bed with a huge 'thunk!'. She got up and ran to the other side of the bed.

"Fayt? Are you okay?" Fayt tried to get up but he was tangled in the blankets. He continued to struggle with them, but they were only trapping him some more. He kicked his legs ferociously like a little kid throwing a tantrum.

"Argh, stupid blankets. Get me the hell out of this!" he growled some more as the blankets finally came undone. He was sitting on the opening in the blanket, so no wonder it wouldn't let him go. He quickly got up then balanced himself on the bedside dresser. "Geez… stupid blanket, grr…" he looked up at Maria, who was slightly laughing at him.

"Hahaha! I can't believe you fought with a blanket. That was really stupid of you." Fayt scowled then rubbed his head.

"Damn… that fall gave me a bump on the head…" he closed his eyes in pain as he touched the bump.

"I think we should get going now… hurry up and get ready," Maria said.

"H-hey! But I just woke up!"

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter when you wake up, it matters when we leave!" Well… that was true. Fayt sighed then walked over to his pile of stuff. He got on his armor. Maria did the same with her clothes.

They threw their backpacks on their backs then walked out of the room. "Let's go inform the Queen we're leaving." Fayt said.

_Xxxx_

Fayt and Maria left the castle and walked down the long street that led out of the city. They soon got to the gates and prepared themselves for battle as soon as they left. An enemy could be anywhere at any moment. They soon encountered some monsters and quickly incapacitated them.

They continued killing through out the whole morning. The enemies were easy to destroy with their newly improved weapons. But just as they were approaching Peterny, a huge group of Proclaimers (1.) appeared and surrounded them.

The Proclaimers came charging at Fayt and Maria. "Fayt, watch out! These guys are everywhere!" Maria yelled out to Fayt. He used Shotgun Blast on a couple of them, but they were everywhere. Even Dimension Door wasn't working against all of them. Maria was having trouble handling a couple of them, who were surrounding her.

"Maria! I'm gonna try and use Ethereal Blast (2.) on these guys! Keep them busy while I prepare the attack!" Maria nodded in agreement. She ran into a huge group of Proclaimers and used Triple Kick then Scatter Beam.

Fayt was readying his attack. He started to glow white as he jumped into the air. White, fluorescent wings sprouted from his back as he yelled, "_Ethereal_…**_BLAST!_**" A white bream shot from him onto the ground below. The light spread all around the battlefield, engulfing the Proclaimers and dealing great HP damage. When the light disappeared, all the enemies were gone and Maria ran over to Fayt.

"Wow, I think that was your strongest Ethereal Blast yet, Fayt. It totally killed all those enemies!" She said. Fayt slowly leaned down on the floor.

"Yeah… but that took a lot out of me…" he panted as sweat rolled down his face. Maria helped him up.

"Peterny is right here. We can go rest there, but you'll have to get up for now." Fayt wiped his forehead. "Here, use my shoulder for now. We can get there this way." Maria put Fayt's arm around her shoulder. Her knees buckled up a bit as she stood up straight. "Wow… you're _really _heavy Fayt…"

Fayt tried supporting himself. "Sorry… But I'm actually light, it's just this stupid armor. Don't blame me." He was too exhausted to argue for long and quickly became quiet. Maria led him to Peterny's North Gates as quickly as she could. They wouldn't want to be ambushed while Fayt was still recovering from the last attack.

When they entered the gates, Fayt sat down on a nearby bench to rest. He took out with water and took a drink. Sure, Ethereal Blast killed all those enemies, but it was always too risky to use it since there's a danger of passing out. He was finally able to control a little bit of his powers, but they still overcome him. He laid back his head on the back of the bench and took in a big breath. He then got up and said to Maria, "Well, let's get going. We'll go sign into the hotel and buy some new items."

He got up and started walking as Maria followed him. While they were walking, Maria felt something touch the back of her leg. She stopped and looked behind her but found nothing. She quickly shook it off and continued walking. Little did she know, Albel was hiding nearby behind a building. If he couldn't tell them about Mirage's plan, then he'd need to make them hate each other. His plan this time was to get Maria think that Fayt was touching her so that she would get mad at him. Of course, he still had other plans in mind. But he was going to start out simple this time.

But, little did _Albel _know that Nel was quick on his trail and was also tracking him down. She too, had a plan. If she could get Albel's attention away from Fayt, then he would leave them alone. But if her plan failed, she would risk her reputation. But it didn't matter right now; all that mattered was to soil Albel's plan, no matter what it took. To take his attention away from Fayt, she would have to get him interested in someone else. And that someone else… _herself_. If she pretended to come on to him, then Albel would eventually lose interest in Fayt. She quietly watched for Albel's next move.

Albel took another small twig, and used a slingshot to fling it across Maria's leg. ((he stole the slingshot from a little kid LOL. Poor kid…)) Maria jumped once again and looked behind her. Still nothing. She then looked at Fayt who was walking innocently. Or… maybe he was _acting _innocent. "All right, Fayt. You better quit that now!" Fayt stopped to look back at her.

"To quit what? What're you talking about?" Maria walked up to him and said in his face.

"You know what I'm talking about. So quit acting innocent." Fayt raised an eyebrow. What the hell was she talking about?

"I didn't do anything, you must be imagining things. And whatever you're imaging, I have nothing to do with it." Fayt crossed his arms and Maria moved back from him. "Well, come on now. We've no time to waste." He grabbed her hand then started walking. Maria looked down at the ground.

_I guess he's right… it must be the wind. _Albel growled from his hiding spot. He would need to fling another twig. As he readied the slingshot and aimed it at Maria's leg again, a pair of dark green logs appeared in front of him. Wait, those weren't logs…

"What the hell…" he slowly looked up to see Nel's face. She had her hands on her hips and a scowl plastered on her face. "Pfsh, Zelpher…" he got up then looked straight into Nel's eyes. "What do you want? Here to stop me from committing my evil plans, eh?" he snorted.

"Albel…" Nel thought of what to say. What would she have to say to make Albel think she liked him? She said, "Those are nice eyes you got…" Albel backed off from her. What was she saying! He expected some foul language and maybe a punch or two, but _THAT _wasn't either of those!

"What're you… what the hell are you saying? Are you trying to make me sick?" he turned his face away from her. He crossed his arms then stuck his nose in the air. It was pretty cute how it slightly turned up. A few bangs covered parts of his eyes, which made him look even cooler. Nel walked closer to him.

"Aww Albel… why do you want to bother Fayt so much? Can't you just let him be? Do you really want to make him unhappy?" the tip if her chest ran along Albel's crossed arm. He looked down at her. Was this maggot trying to turn him on? Or was she just being horny?

He backed off in disgust. "Go away, worm. I don't have time to mess around." Nel smirked. This was pretty fun. She had Albel confused. Maybe if she played lovey-dovey a little longer, she would pry his attention away from Fayt. But, wait a second… what happens after that? She was about to leave him alone at that thought, but then got even _closer _to him. She now had her body pressed against his. Albel looked down at her eyes. Those purple eyes were actually… _pretty. _Wait a second, he wasn't starting to like her, was he? Of course not. But, she was pretty… Her short, red hair hanging freely across her forehead. The way her small red lips curved up in a smile. Albel felt like slapping himself. How could he be thinking that?

"Aw, c'mon now. Don' be so mean. That's no way to treat a lady." Nel said.

_She's not a lady, she's a **woman!**_ Albel froze. **_HOLY_**. **_SHIT._** Did he just think what a thought he thunk? ((ouchie… brain pain…)) he shook his head violently. _NO… no… I don't think that. She's jut messing with me. Stupid hormones… _He rudely pushed past her then said. "Whatever. Don't try and ruin my next plan or it's your head." Nel sighed. Well, atleast he forgot about Fayt and Maria, _for now._

_Xxxx_

_Proclaimer: _A Proclaimer is an enemy from later on in the game. It resembles an angel, but I'm tellin' you. These things are from _hell._

_Ethereal Blast: _Ethereal Blast is a powerful skill obtained in one of the secret dungeons after you defeat the main story of the game. It's super super powerful!

**Author's Note: **This chapter finally ended. I didn't intend for it to be so much longer then the last chapter, but it was the only way to fit all the stuff I wanted. Oh and I got an idea from some people to have some Albel/Nel stuff in this fic. I thought it was a good idea. Not only would I have FaytxMaria fans reading this, but also some AlNel fans too! I hope I didn't go over the edge with some of the content in this chapter… Please review! Ohh… and I'm so sorry this chapter wasn't too funny… but I'm going to make the next one funnier, at least I'll try. Sorry!


	5. Shut the Hell Up, Roger!

_Xxxx_

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, so don't sue me. I'm totally poor and it's not gonna do you any good. So go sue someone else, kay? ((stuffs strawberry pocky in mouth))

**Author's Note: **I got the whole AlNel thing in the last chapter from AlterGenesis-X, and I really liked the idea… So don't worry, I disclaimed that for you! Hmm… I don't have any ideas for this chapter, so I'm just gonna type what comes to mind. Eheheh… hmm, I'll have to think of funny scenes… but I can't! Somebody help mee! ((cries)) Eh, what's this? I'm bringing Roger into the story? This should be more fun!

**asga: **Lol, cute cute cute. I think it's so adorable when Fayt blushes. Lol, Sophia is hated by so many people.

**Lord Strife: **Hmm, I like that idea a whole bunch! Now… I just need to find a way to fit that in here. If I can…

**Nanaky: **Heehee, thanks! Wow, you really think I gotta good sense of humor? Thanks a whole bunch!

**KuraiMiko37: **Yep, Maria flipped her off! Hehe. Lol, I think we're all crazy, specially me for making that fight. XD. Lol, who knows. I think the end is near. Heehee, thanks!

**Moric: **Yep, they're getting closer. Lol, I luv to confuse. Thanks!

**Jonathan Priest: **lol, glad I made you laugh! Yeah, those two are just SO annoying.

**Icedaggers: **Thanks!

_Xxxx_

**_Chapter 5: _**Shut the Hell Up, Roger!

_Xxxx_

An energetic young woman at the inn counter welcomed Fayt and Maria as they walked in, "Welcome, Mr. Leingod! Would you like a room for tonight? Rooms cost only 500 fol!" Fayt walked up to the counter. Good thing he had a room reserved for him for every night, he didn't have to wait to get one. He paid the cashier then him and Maria went outside to the shops in the plaza.

They walked to the small food stand in the middle of the plaza. "They don't have too much good food on this menu… but it's the only café in this town. Geez, they even sell freakin' Discordant Dessert! What the hell is up with that?" Fayt turned to Maria to see what she would say.

"Well… it's the best there is here. We might as well order something… hmm…" she studied the menu as Fayt waited. "I think Ozoni sounds good… whatever it is… let's see, what else?" Fayt looked back at the menu. He crossed his arms.

"Eww… duck… I don't see anything good. Wait, here's something good, Corn on the Cob, Golden Curry…" Maria looked at the part of the menu with the items.

"Yeah, those seem good. Well, whadya wanna order? I'm definitely getting the Corn on the Cob and a Pasta Salad. What do you want, Fayt?" Fayt kept looking over the menu.

"…Ultimate Ramen and… I think that's all I need. But just in case… some natto." Maria nodded then walked up to the counter to pay. She handed the cashier the fol then her and Fayt went to go sit down at a nearby table. Fayt pulled out a chair for Maria. She sat down then pulled the chair in and rested her head in her hands.

Fayt sat down then laid his head on the table. None of them said a word as they waited, basically since they couldn't think of anything to say. It remained quiet as they could hear crowds of people. The sun was getting lower. They were tired and hungry. And people don't usually like to talk much when they're hungry _and _tired.

All a sudden, Fayt's stomach growled super loud. Maria looked up from the table at him with a confused look. "What the…? Was that your stomach or a monster?" Fayt rubbed his head and blushed.

"Eh… that was me… hey, you can't blame me, I haven't eaten all day. I bet our food won't even arrive soon… grr, lazy bastards." Maria tilted her head in thought.

"Well, if you're so hungry, then can't you eat a snack? Do you have anything to eat?" Fayt shrugged put then took his backpack off his shoulders. ((they didn't put them in their room)) He dug through it till he pulled out the Umai-bo 13 ((lol yes… it's spelt that way. I checked my guide book XD)) "Hey, where'd you get that? Wait a second… you mean to tell me you had it this whole time? Oh, Fayt… you could've told me sooner!"

Fayt shook his head. "Hey, I fergot too! Well, anyways… do you want some?" Maria nodded then Fayt broke the Umai-bo in half then handed her a half. "Here. I don't know if it tastes good or not, so don't blame me if it doesn't." he took a bite then realized that it actually tasted good. He took 3 more bites and finished the whole thing in less then a minute. Maria sat gawk-eyed with her mouth slightly ajar and one side of her cheek full of umai-bo.

"Y-you eat q-quick…" she barely took a bite of hers when Fayt had already finished his. He was licking the crumbs off his mouth

"Like I said, I was hungry…" Maria finished her half then they became quiet again. After 5 more minutes, a woman in a maid dress came with their plates and set them down on the table.

"Here you guys go, enjoy!" she pushed the tray away humming some gay-ass song. "Lalala… hmm hmmm hm la mm la la…" Fayt shook his head at her stupidity then started eating. As they were eating, Fayt heard some footsteps behind him. He turned around to see nothing.

He kept scanning back and forth for the person, but couldn't see anything. Maria looked for the person also but she couldn't see anyone. Fayt turned back to his food when he heard, "Hey guys!" he nearly choked on the ramen. He coughed and coughed then finally stopped. A ramen noodle was sticking out of his nose. He sneezed as the noodle flew out onto the stone floor. ((this happens to me all the time. I'll be swallowing noodles when I cough and one goes up my nose XD)) The voice said this time, "Eww! Watch where you sneeze that thing!" Fayt looked behind him onto the ground to see Roger. Oh noez, ROGER. The annoying little, yet cute, pest. Maria didn't pay any attention to Roger. She was too busy laughing at the scene Fayt just did.

Fayt didn't know whom to yell at first, Maria or Roger? He decided to do both at the same time. "SHUT THE HELL UP!" Maria stopped laughing and Roger fell on the floor from the force of the yell. "Goddammit Roger! Don't ever, _ever, _do that again in your entire life! You nearly choked me to death!" Maria started laughing again. Fayt glared at Maria. "Oh, and what's so funny? HAVING A NOODLE LODGED UP YOUR NOSE IS NOT COMFORTABLE." Maria continued to laugh even harder at him. Fayt sighed then looked back down at Roger. "Whadya want, you little shit."

Roger looked at Fayt then Maria, back and forth, back and forth… he raised an awkwardly shaped eyebrow. "Are you two guys on a date or sumthin?" Fayt fell off his chair in disbelief and Maria stopped laughing.

"O-of course not! What makes you think that?" Maria asked nervously. Fayt got off the floor then looked down at Roger. Roger kept looking back and forth at Fayt then Maria. An evil grin formed on his face.

"Cuz you two look cute together. Plus, you guys act like my parents. Arguing all the time…" Fayt pouted.

"We do not!"

"Then why are you getting so defensive? Huh? You wouldn't be getting defensive if it weren't true. C'mon ya guys. It's totally easy to tell you like each other." Fayt and Maria blushed. They cautiously looked at each other but quickly turned their eyes away. Roger shook his head then turned around. "Whatever, I need to complete that challenge. I don't have time to convince some morons that they're lovers." He then stared walking to the West Gate.

Maria looked down at her plate. Fayt sat down then continued to eat quietly. Roger should've just shut up. He went too far. Surely some little brat couldn't understand the basics of love more then two 19 year-olds, could he? They finished their food and water then got up from the table and headed toward the inn. Maria kept taking quick glances at Fayt. He too seemed flustered by what Roger said.

They got to the door of the inn as the sun was setting. Maria was about to open the door but stopped and looked toward the sun. It was pretty… setting like that. She watched as the last few seconds of daylight disappeared. She finally opened the door all the way and walked in. Fayt followed her to their room. When they got there, Maria set down her backpack. She got some clothes out of it then said to Fayt, "Be right back, I'm going to take a shower." She then walked out of the room as Fayt set down his backpack.

He was going to get revenge on Roger, no matter what. Once he saw that brat again, it was his head. Well… maybe his tail. Then again… his tail was too fluffy to harm. Fayt angrily shook his head. Whatever, he was just going to hurt Roger for being such an asshole.

Fayt laid down on his bed with his hands behind his head. He stared at the ceiling with a blank expression. He wasn't ready to go to bed yet. He could probably take a shower after Maria and go to sleep. What could he do then? He sat up and looked around the room. A lamp… can't do anything with that, a desk, a chess board… there wasn't anything to do. He didn't bring anything for entertainment. He could probably check up with the Diplo.

He got his communicator from his backpack then went to sit on his bed. He thought of who he wanted to call._ Mirage is probably busy… Sophia is a pain in the ass… No in way in hell Lieber, Cliff is…well… he's probably sleeping, knowing him. Oh well. _Fayt shrugged then decided to talk to Cliff.

When Cliff's communicator was answered, it was something Fayt didn't expect. "Y'ello?" Fayt's mouth was slightly ajar. "Who's this?" It was Nik. Fayt didn't understand.

"Y-you're not Cliff." Nik snorted then replied in a smart-ass tone.

"Of course not, and you're just figuring that out now?" Fayt pouted. Why was Nik so mean to him? He never did anything to Nik to make him so rude to him. Or maybe Nik liked being mean to 19-year olds. If so, then was he mean to Maria also? Fayt got mad at the thought of Nik being so cruel to Maria. Fayt would have to hurt him for being mean to his girlfriend.

WAIT. A. MINUTE. Fayt couldn't believe he just thought that. Maria wasn't his girlfriend. He must be going crazy, he thought. _My god… what the hell is wrong with me? I can't believe I jut called her my girlfriend. Jeez, she so isn't. She's so out of my league anyways… _He snapped out of his thoughts since Nik was calling him to snap out of his daze.

He blinked stupidly. He then remembered what Nik said before he had that strange thought. "Ugh! No! I knew that! But I thought I was contacting Cliff's communicator." Fayt scowled at Nik.

"Ya' are."

"Then why did you answer?"

"He left it here after he ate. I decided to keep it till he noticed it was gone. But I don't think that's gonna happen soon, 'sidering he's such a forgetful guy." Nik laughed then gave Fayt a serious look. Fayt shuddered. "Is there something you need?" Fayt replied loudly.

"N-no! I didn't want to contact you! I was contacting Cliff! Ugh, you know what? Nevermind. I'm leaving," Fayt put away his communicator then whispered under his breath, "Bastard…" He went to go sit back down on his bed. _Man, what was I thinking? Stupid Nik… grr. _

Fayt continued to lie down on his bed till the bedroom door opened. Maria walked in wearing her pajamas. "I'm gonna wear these till tomorrow. My other clothes are being washed. Are you gonna take a shower, Fayt?" She went to go sit on her bed. "Well, if you do. Don't wake me up when you come back in here. I'm going to sleep." She laid down under the covers of her bed. Fayt got up. He probably really needed a shower. He got some clothes and quietly left the room.

_Xxxx_

Fayt and Maria walked out of the Inn the next morning feeling great. They went to bed early so they had hours and hours of sleep. ((wow… how lucky for them… wish _I _could have hours and hours of sleep…)) They began to walk East to get to the plaza. As they were walking, they heard those same, annoying, little footstep catching up behind them. "Wait guys!" they turned around and sighed as they saw Roger.

"What do _you_ want, you little jerk?" Fayt said in a cold voice.

Roger frowned. "Are you still mad about yesterday? Man, it was just a joke." Fayt crossed his arms. Maria gestured him to walk away. Roger stopped them "Wait! No, I'm sorry. Really, I am." Maria tapped her foot impatiently.

"Whatever. What is it you want?" Fayt asked even more angrily.

"Well…" the little Menodix said hesitantly. "Can ya guys help me with my chale-" Fayt was already walking away along with Maria. "No, please! Please stop! I really need your help! C'mon guys, I really need you to help. Just this once. Just one last time?" Fayt stopped. He had already helped Roger once.

_I guess… I guess I can help him. Besides, It's just one of his little challenges, it shouldn't take more then a day. _Fayt thought. He turned back around and faced Roger. A worried look came over Maria's face. What was he thinking? He… she gulped. He wasn't actually _considering _helping, was he?

Fayt crouched on his knees down to Roger's level. He narrowed hi eyes to slits and set his mouth in a firm, yet steady, line. Roger shuddered from Fayt's killing glare. He gulped as Fayt began to talk. "What is in it for us if we help you?" Roger sighed in relief. He thought Fayt was gonna kill him for sure.

"Um well, lesse… I promise I won't tease you two guys, kay? Since it seems to upset you two so mu-" He stopped as Fayt scowled. "Oh, er…I mean, sorry. I won't do it again. Also, I won't ever ever ever bother you guys, ever again. How about that?" Maria walked over to Fayt and leaned over by him.

She put her mouth to his ear and whispered harshly, "Are you crazy! We can't help him, it'll waste our time!" Fayt whispered back in her ear.

"Calm down, it's not like we have a deadline. Besides, if he leaves us alone forever, like he says, then think of all the headaches and earaches we'll be saving. What harm can it do? It's not like the mission could take all day. It's just some baby challenge." Roger watched patiently as they whispered.

"Well… I guess you're right. But if we aren't done by sunset, then I'm blaming you." They both nodded in agreement then looked at Roger.

"Okay, we'll help. _BUT_. You _HAVE TO_, and I mean **_HAVE TO_, **keep your promise or you're dead, got that? And if you say just one thing, we'll stop helping you, got that?" Roger nodded then glomped them both. ((for those of you who don't know, a glomp is when someone jumps then hugs someone.))

"Oh, thanks so much guys! Well, follow me!" he started to skip happily to the West gate. "Oh, and the mission is to find a treasure chest in Duggus Forest. I already tried but I couldn't find it. So I need ya guys to help." Maria and Fayt walked ahead of him. They _were_ in a hurry, after all. Roger ran after them.

They exited the gates. Roger quietly chuckled to himself. He led them right into Albel's trap. They couldn't be alone, so they couldn't get closer since Roger was with them. And while they were going to the Duggus forest, Albel was planning to drop in and join they're party. When him and the others were in the forest area, Albel was going to try and get the party to split up and become separated into two groups. Albel with Fayt, and Maria with Roger. The plan was going to be difficult to pull off, but he just had to try. No way was he going to give Fayt up to Maria _that _easily.

The question is; 'how did Albel get Roger to cooperate?' They never got along that well. You see… Roger is a sucker when it comes to fol, and Albel happened to have fol, _**a lot**._ So now Roger and Albel were on the evil side. Good thing there's still Nel. She's still quietly stalking Albel.

Roger, Maria, and Fayt quickly got to the entrance of the forest. Roger slowed down then thought to himself. _Okay… he should be arriving soon… _They entered the forest when all of a sudden, Albel appeared from behind a tree.

"Albel?" Maria said.

Albel crossed his arms. "Well, who else? I didn't expect to find you maggots here. What're you doing here?" Albel was good at acting. He probably should've gotten a role in a play or sumthin'. Okay, if he did that, everyone on stage would hide in fear. Cross that idea out. Note to self: Never ever think of Albel acting, ever again. BAD IDEA.

"We're helping Roger." Fayt said. Albel walked up to them.

"Oh, is that so? Any chance I can kill some filthy scumbag enemies?" He clenched his claw and smirked. Fayt put one hand on his hip.

"Well, yeah. The forest is always full of enemies. I think we might need another person on the team." Albel crossed his arms again. Alright, he didn't have to _'invite' _himself into their party. He was being welcomed. This was working out better then he thought.

"You saying you need me to join?" he put his nose in the air and turned his head away.

"Well…. I guess so. Well, do you or don't you?" Albel shifted his weight in thought.

"Fine, but if you become useless, then I'm leaving." Fayt only shrugged then continued walking. He looked at Roger.

"So… any clue where the chest is?" Roger only said 'nope'. Maria sighed. This was a _bad _idea. Roger decided to lead them. They didn't question his leadership of the party, which is just what Albel wanted. He could lead them into the part of the woods that were fogged up. Ofcourse, it took him just about 20 attempts and getting lost 12 times to remember correctly where it was. After an hour, Roger could finally see the part of the forest where Albel would try his plan. Before they got there, Albel had wedged himself between Fayt and Maria. Maria ended up right behind Roger. Roger looked up at Maria.

"Hey, Miss. Can you hold my hand? Don't worry, it's clean." He stretched out his hand to Maria. She raised an eyebrow but decided to hold his hand. It's not like she was going to die if she did it. Fayt also raised an eyebrow at Roger, but Roger didn't pay attention. He only smiled at Maria then continued to lead them.

After 3 minutes, the fog engulfed the party of four. Maria was still holding Roger's hand. She looked around. "Um… are you sure we're going the right way? I can't see a thing ahead of me.

"Exactly. The perfect spot to hide a treasure chest." He continued walking. In the back of the party, Fayt was stuck with Albel. They could hear Maria and Roger talking but couldn't see them. Albel counted the number of steps they were taking. Somewhere to his left, there should be a break in the thick trees that led away from Roger and Maria.

_19…20…21…22… Here!_ He grabbed Fayt's hand. "I heard them go this way. C'mon." Fayt was pulled away from the original path. He still couldn't see anything, cept Albel's hand holding his. The fog was so thick, he was sure that they were already lost.

"You sure?"

"Of course, fool. Don't question, just follow." He smirked, even though no one could see. He was alone with Fayt, but now he just needed to get to a clearing in the fog, far away from Roger and Maria. Poor Maria, she was stuck with Roger. She pulled her hand away from him since his hand started sweating. Why the hell was he so nervous? Or maybe he wasn't nervous… But something felt different, felt weird… Were Fayt and Albel still behind them?

She couldn't see Roger's face, but it was smiling evilly. He knew Fayt and Albel were gone, but he had to continue walking forward, soon they would be out of the fog and far away from Albel and Fayt. "Roger… are Fayt and Albel still behind us?" she looked behind them but the fog was blocking anything that she could've been able to see. Roger pulled grabbed her hand and started walking quicker.

"Of course! If we're ahead, don't worry, they'll catch up. Now c'mon, no time to waste!" Maria looked back to the front of the path then sighed. She was becoming exhausted by the strange behaviour. ((I like spelling it that way for some reason, lol))

_Xxxx_

Fayt thought he was falling asleep. He was only walking for 5 minutes, but he was so bored. And where was Maria anyway? He wanted to walk by her, but she wasn't anywhere near. Finally, he saw a clearing of the fog ahead. Sunlight was shining through and he could see Albel in front of him, but no Maria or Roger… He tilted his head slightly. Finally, him and Albel were out of the fog. There was no more of it ahead of them, which was good news. But now, he was separated from Maria. He felt uncomfortable alone with Albel. Who knew what this mad man would pull? He shuddered.

"They aren't here." Fayt said, looking up at Albel.

"Don't worry, we'll find them." Fayt just shrugged.

Maria and Roger were now out of the fog also, but just on an opposite side of the forest. "Roger, slow down! Let's sit and wait for Albel and Fayt. You don't have to rush." She sat down on a tree stump. Roger was about to convince her to keep going, but decided that they were far enough from Fayt to rest. He sat down on another tree stump then sat and waited. Although, the only thing he was waiting for was for Albel to appear, with Fayt around his arm and Maria boyfriend-less.

Fayt's leg started to ache when he got out of the fog. He leaned against a tree and closed his eyes. He was just going to rest for a little while. It's not like Maria and Roger could get so far in five minutes. He slowly began to open his eyes when he saw Albel's face appear in front of him. He jumped and screeched out. Albel began to laugh under his breath. "What, did I scare you?" Fayt calmed back down.

"Albel, what're you doing?" Fayt asked in a confused way. Albel leaned in closer. Fayt started to sweat a little as Albel breathed on him. "…" Fayt was speechless. Albel wasn't going to do something to him, or was he? Fayt gulped. He almost whimpered in fright.

"What? Why're you backing off? Scared?" Albel was about one centimeter away from Fayt's lips when he felt someone wrap there arms around his waist. Fayt was nearly crying from all the stuff he had running through his mind of what Albel could've done to him. Albel pulled away from Fayt then sighed. Fayt fainted to the floor. Albel looked behind him to find… "**_NEL!" _**Nel looked up at him.

"Albel… don't leave me…" Albel pushed her off.

"What do you think you're doing! You ruined my plan!" Nel stood in front of him with a pout.

"Albel… But… Fayt doesn't even love you. How can you get him to be with you if he doesn't love you? Because… I'm the one that… that actually…" she gulped. "I love you Albel." Believe it or not, Nel had rehearsed ALL day to try and pretend to say it to Albel. The first, let's say… 306 times, she only choked on the words. And she was only talking to a tree. But now that Fayt and Maria's relationship was in her hands at this moment, she just had to come out and say it. Albel's eye's widened. Nel smiled. All right, Albel was confused again. But… now he thinks that she _loves _him. How could she love someone so ruthless and cold-hearted? Wait a second, what would Albel do now? Would he just walk away in confusion, or… would he ask her _why _she loved him? Honestly, she didn't have an answer. She probably should've planned it out more carefully, but now that she said it, she was just going to try and think of an excuse as to why she loved him. She thought that it would be hard, but when she started thinking of reasons…

"Y-you love me…? But… I've been nothing but mean and cold-hearted… how could you love me…?" Damn. Just what Nel **didn't **want to hear. Albel thought to himself. _I hate myself, and here I have someone saying they love me. The only people who've loved me was my parents, but they're gone now… Does she really love me? Maybe this is just an infatuation… No one could ever love a beast like me… or could they? _

This was totally crazy. Absolutely, totally crazy. Albel looked so confused, and yet so sad. He looked as though he was deep in thought, pain showed through his eyes. Nel looked up at him and raised her eyebrows in worry. "Albel…" she didn't plan for things to get so dramatic, but now that they did, she wasn't sure what to do. She couldn't take all the stress, she just couldn't. She backed away from Albel. Albel looked up. Tears swelled in her beautiful purple eyes. "I just… I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. I-I'm sorry. I need to go…" she turned away and started to run out of the forest. Albel reached his hand out to her.

"Nel…" he turned around and looked at the passed out Fayt. He frowned. He freaked out Fayt so badly that he actually passed out. Poor Fayt. Who knows what was going through his mind. Albel walked over to Fayt and crouched by him. Fayt looked so cute and sweet, just lying there with blue hair lying across his forehead. Albel pushed the hair out of his face. Nel was right, why go after someone who doesn't even love you? And yet… he couldn't just give up so easily when his plan was working. He didn't want to hurt Fayt, or Maria. He shouldn't get in the way of their love. It just didn't seem right, now that he looked at it clearly. He picked up the passed out teen and carried him to the right path of the forest.

_Xxxx_

As Albel carried Fayt, all he could think of was what just happened back in the clear patch of forest. The words echoed through his head. He was so confused and he just couldn't understand. What just happened back there? What was wrong with Nel? And… how can he fix this whole mess he created? He sighed. He soon found the right path and quickly began to walk through it.

Meanwhile, Maria was becoming impatient. She knew something was up, but she didn't know what. Fayt wouldn't just disappear for so long. He had a communicator with him, so getting lost wouldn't've been a problem. She watched Roger, who didn't' seem affected by Albel and Fayt's disappearance. She got up and walked over to Roger. "You know what? I know something's up, so you better spill the beans or I'll _fatally _hurt you." That was just what she had to say to make Roger confess.

"No, please don't hurt me! I'll tell you!" Honestly, Maria didn't really think that there was anything until Roger said that.

"Retard. I didn't know there was anything going on. I just made you confess when you didn't have to." Roger sighed. What an idiot he was. He explained to Maria everything, but he made her swear she wouldn't tell Albel or he'd take away his money. Maria sat shocked. She couldn't believe it. Albel really _did _have the hots for Fayt, she knew it! But the whole plan… it was just crazy. She couldn't believe what Albel did to stop her and Fayt from getting together. She just sighed then shook her head. She then froze. Albel had taken Fayt away and they've been gone for so long, and _alone_…

"OH MY GOD, FAYT!" She began to run to where her and Roger came from. Roger ran after her yelling for her to wait. Maria was running through the fogged woods so quickly, that she was tripping on the tree stumps. But she didn't care. Albel could've done/could be doing anything to Fayt. Albel stopped in his tracks when he heard running footsteps. He couldn't see what was ahead of him till… **_BAM!_** Maria ran right into Albel and knocked him over. She too, fell forward on the both of them. She opened her eyes to see Fayt's chest. She looked to the right to see his face. She then looked ahead of her to see Albel's face, who had a red bump on his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Maria.

"Get the hell off, Maggot!" Maria hurried and got off him but then examined Fayt as soon as Albel stood up with him in his arms. Strange… he seemed fine, except for the fact that he looked sickly white.

"What'd you do to him! Wait, I don't want to know. Wait, yes I do! Oh, poor _poor _Fayt!" Albel scowled.

"I didn't do anything to him! He passed out… so I decided to carry him back." Albel slowly looked away and frowned.

"That's not all, why're you looking away from me? Something else happened!" she said panicky.

"The other thing that happened is _none _of your business. But don't worry, it didn't involve Fayt." Maria looked down at the ground.

"So then… you didn't do anything to him…?"

"Ofcourse not, I'm not some dirty, old, sleazy pedophile. I wouldn't hurt Fayt or do anything to him that'd be bad." Maria still looked at the ground in shame.

"Oh… okay…" they then heard the shouts of Roger, who crashed into the back of Maria's legs and knocked her over onto Albel and they all fell over in a big mess.

"DAMMIT ROGER!" Albel and Maria said. Roger got off of them and apologized. Albel started to walk toward where Maria came running from. Maria followed and Roger lagged behind since his short legs were exhausted.

"…" Everyone was quiet through the whole walk to the clearing of the forest. Albel set Fayt down. Maria sat by the two guys and Roger sat by another tree. "Why'd he pass out…?" Maria asked Albel as she watched the blue-haired teen shift his head. Albel looked at Maria.

"Well… you see…" Maria raised an eyebrow. "I was kind of moving really close to him and he started panicking and then he passed out. But I still swear that nothing happened between us. You don't have to worry, your 'lover' is fine." Fayt began to stir and then slowly opened his eyes, blinking once or twice. He sat up then looked around him. The first person he saw was Albel, staring straight back at him.

"OMIGOD! I passed out! OMIGOSH, WHAT'D YOU DO TO ME?" he checked to make sure he was still in the same condition as he was before he passed out. He backed away from Albel and bumped into Maria. He looked behind himself to see her looking at him. "Maria! My savior!" he hugged her in a childish manner. If they were anime characters, both Maria and Albel would've had a sweatdrop roll down their heads. Fayt looked back at Albel.

"Listen, maggot, I didn't do anything to you! You passed out and that's all."

"Then what happened after that? Huh?" Fayt asked.

"Nel appeared… and… she said…" Albel got up. He let his hair hang over his face, covering his eyes. "It's… It's not any of your business." He turned away from Fayt and Maria. Fayt looked up at Albel, who had his back turned toward them.

"Oh, you didn't do anything to me? Sorry, I guess I jumped to conclusions when your hand started moving to my…" Maria whacked his back. Whatever Fayt was about to say, she didn't want to hear it. Albel sighed then started to walk to the trees.

"You don't have to worry. I won't be bothering you anymore… goodbye. Don't expect to see me anytime soon, worms." He then walked into the dense patch of trees and disappeared.

"I wonder what happened." Fayt said.

"You probably could've figured out if you didn't pass out like a chicken wimp." Maria laughed at Fayt. Fayt's face turned red in anger.

"I'm not a wimp!"

"Am too!"

"Am not!" Maria only giggled then got up. Roger walked over to them.

"You guys can go now… Sorry I lied. I didn't mean to waste your time… Go ahead, hurt me, do all you want. I deserve it…" Maria looked down at Roger.

"It's okay. You helped a lot. If you didn't' bring us here, Albel would probably still be chasin' Fayt." Fayt raised an eyebrow. He had absolutely no clue of what the hell those two were talking about. Maria grabbed Fayt's hand then said to Roger, "Good-bye!" her and Fayt then headed toward the exit of the forest. So much stuff had happened that day in such a short time, but now it was already around 1:00 and Maria and Fayt had to be heading back to Peterny to leave for Arias.

_Xxxx_

**Author's Note: **Wow, the scene with Nel and Albel in it got so… dramatic. I didn't mean for that to happen. I'm tellin' ya, this fanfic seems to have a mind of it's own. I hope that atleast some of the parts we're funny. Just about 99 percent of this chapter I came up with while I was typing. Y'know… I seem to be losing my touch of humor in this fanfic. It seems more dramatic now then humorous at some points. I wonder what'll happen… I can't wait to get the next chapter typed up! Fayt and Maria finally arrive in Arias, and Nel figures out her true feelings for Albel, but isn't able to tell him yet. Don't worry, this is still a FaytxMaria fanfic, but I just needed some AlbelxNel parts in it. Please Review! Reviews inspire me to type. If you want a next chapter, you'll need to review. So review please!


	6. Only a Lie?

_Xxxx_

Disclaimer: Don't Own. Leavez me be.

**Author's Note: **Wow… once again, I can't believe what happened in the last chapter. Lol, I know. This is my fanfic, and it shouldn't shock me, but I didn't expect to type that up… I feel sorry for Albel and Nel now… But don't worry! I'm going to make it work out between them. And as for Fayt and Maria, I'll try to have more scenes of them together. Once again, I'm coming up with this chapter as I type, bear with me! If… you spell that kinda 'bear' that way…

**Moric: **Lol. Yeah, poor poor Fayt…

**Macky: **Thank you!

**KikyoRockz: **Lol, thanks so much! I feel that the story is lacking unless I explain wut stuff looks like, lol. They're my fave SO couple too! Lol, yes, TO HELL WITH HER! That's good you enjoyed it!

_Xxxx_

**_Chapter 6: _**Only a Lie?

_Xxxx_

Fayt and Maria got to Peterny long after they left Duggus Forest. They were both still collected in their thoughts, too busy to pay attention to anything else. They kept heading South to Arias. They had to clear those monsters, no time should be wasted. But they had already wasted mostly a whole day. They should've left early morning, but now it was getting late. They might need to stay another night in Peterny.

Maria and Fayt were already exhausted from crawling through all the trees in Duggus. "Fayt…" Maria said. "I think we might have to sleep here again. We can't leave for Arias, it's too late. We're too exhausted to fight. It's crazy to go now, how about we stay?"

"Yeah… you're right. Let's go to the inn." Both him and Maria sighed then turned toward the inn. Fayt paid the clerk again then him and Maria went to their room and decided to retire in early that night.

_Xxxx_

Fayt and Maria wasted no time to leave for Arias. They were packed and out on the road within 10 minutes after waking up. The sun was barely rising above the horizon and the sky was orange from the sun's morning rays. They fought monster after monster. So many weak monsters were in their path. They seemed to get easier to defeat as they headed toward Arias, even though there were still some Convictors and Enforcers that were harder to defeat.

Meanwhile, back at Peterny… 

Nel paced back and forth in a small alleyway, lost in thoughts. She was so confused. Was that all just really a lie? _I'm so lost… I don't understand what happened back there. I said I loved him, and yet… I didn't mean it, but now that I look back at it… Ugh, I don't understand this at all. What's going on? May it be that I may actually have feelings for Albel the Wicked? That can't be. And yet… he's changed so much since when I first met him. I still have the same thoughts about him when I first met him, and all those thoughts are negative ones. My brain may think he's a heartless bastard, but my heart sees differently… _she continued to pace back and forth but finally stopped then sat down on a nearby bench. She sighed heavily. _I think that I really do love him. But what does he feel for me? I wish I could've read what was going on in his mind when I told him I loved him. I wonder if he even listened to me. I don't know if he'll still try to ruin Fayt and Maria's relationship. I need to find Albel, I have to set this straight. I need to tell him the truth…_

Nel got off the bench and stood to think of where Albel might be. She last saw him in the forest. Could he still be there? She didn't feel like searching a huge forest for him. Maybe, if she was lucky, he would appear in town. But what were the chances of that? Nel stopped walking, what good timing. Albel was in the plaza leaning on a wall. He too, looked lost in thought. She hid behind a building and looked from behind it. _He came back to town… Great, now I'm too afraid to talk to him even though I have the perfect chance. _Nel quietly watched Albel in sadness.

Albel had his eyes closed as he leaned against the wall. He too, was deep in his thoughts. _What a lie… No one would love me. She must be pulling my leg. But… what if she isn't? What should I do? She was so hurt, for some reason… why were there tears in her eyes? Why did she run away like that? This feeling… it feels strange. Just seeing her like that made me sad, by why should I care? Could it be that…? No, that's ridiculous. Albel Nox loves no one. That Nel could never worm her way into my heart._

Nel slid down the wall she was hiding behind and sat down. What could she do? Albel was right there, and yet she hadn't build up enough guts to go talk to him. She looked around the corner of the wall again but didn't spot Albel. Great, he left. She ruined her chance. _Dammit Nel, why didn't you just walk up to him and come out and say it? "Albel, I do love you. I'm sorry I ran away like that. But it was supposed to be a lie. But now that I know it isn't do you feel the same for me?" That was all I had to say, is it that hard? It's not like I was on stage and had stage fright or sumthin'. _She sighed again. _This is so complicated for some reason… I've never loved anyone else like this before…_

_Xxxx_

Fayt and Maria killed about 100 enemies already. They just kept coming. But after hours of fighting, there were still many enemies. Usually, the Palmira Plains is never so full, but there were an odd number of enemies swarming everywhere. A small hill in the distance indicated where Arias was. If only they could here the running water, they would be in Arias already. But Fayt and Maria had to remember that they weren't here to just to travel from town to town, but to kill all the enemies on the path, and do I mighty damn good job.

One Convictor was stronger then all the others. Its wind attack was used over and over again. The eerie noises it made kept echoing throughout the entire battle field. It came flying toward Maria. She dodged the tornado attack, but she was becoming exhausted. Fayt was trying Dimension Door on the Convictor, but it kept blocking it with its guard. Fayt and Maria were being defeated. All the enemies before had worn them down and now they didn't have too much strength left. The Convictor sent another tornado at Maria. The Convictor found her an easy target because of her speed. Fayt tried to pry its attention away from her, but all attempts were hopeless. Miserable Maria was becoming exhausted. She couldn't fight the Convictor since it wouldn't stop sending attacks at her. The fate of the battle was left in Fayt's hands. He used his strongest attacks, but he was too tired to use Ethereal Blast. Maria was able to send a Pulse Blast and Radiation Bullets at the Convictor. It was almost dead when Maria was chased to a cliff. She couldn't run any farther. She let her Fury get to 100 percent, but the Convictor sent a major attack at her. She was just about to be hit wen Fayt ran and pushed her out of the way of the attack. Her and Fayt dodged the attack and Maria used Aiming Device to finish off the enemy. Unfortunately, Fayt was hit.

Fayt and Maria panted as sweat rolled down their foreheads and fell to the floor. Maria managed to say 'thanks' while taking in big breaths. Fayt tried getting up slowly, but he fell back to the floor when a sharp pain shot through his back. He felt his back and when he pulled his hand away it was covered in blood. When he pulled away his hand, there was blood all over it. Maria slowly got up on her knees then looked over at Fayt. "Oh my god, Fayt! Are you okay!" she crawled over to him frantically and tried to help him sit up. Fayt struggled to sit up, since his back hurt so much. He finally managed to sit up, but his back was covered in blood. The attack he received created a deep gash in his back.

"Agh! It's bleeding a lot." Fayt said. Maria used Heal on the cut to stop the bleeding a little, but he would need a doctor to stitch up the wound before he died of too much blood loss. Fayt attempted to stand up but quickly fell back down.

"No Fayt, you're hurt." Maria said to him.

"I don't care. It isn't safe here. We're still out in plain view for enemies to attack. The last thing we need is to be ambushed in this condition. We need to hurry and get to Arias where something can be done." Fayt stood up and started walking toward Arias. Maria got off the ground and hurried by him.

"Okay… but you can't fight or you'll injure yourself again. Just leave all the fighting to me, kay?" Fayt didn't like the idea of Maria fighting alone, but with an injury as serious as his, he couldn't refuse.

_Xxxx_

Maria had to fight off all the enemies. They were easy, so she didn't have any trouble. After an hour, they were at the bridge that led to Arias. Maria and Fayt got to the gates and lazily walked in. Maria was now supporting Fayt on her shoulder. The wound on his back was still bleeding and causing him much pain. He was too injured to walk any farther since too much of his blood was lost through the wound on his back. He started falling forwards as Maria tried to stop him but she was being brought down with him. They both fell to the floor as Maria tried to move Fayt off of her, but he was just too heavy. She was pinned to the floor, face down and she couldn't get up. She heard footsteps approach and tried looking up, but all she could see was a pair of black leather shoes.

"Oh my, what's this?" Maria recognized the voice as Clair's. She helped lift Fayt off of Maria and realized who the people were. "Oh, Fayt and Maria! What in Apris' name happened here?" she leaned by Fayt and examined the wound on his back. "It seems he's knocked out cold from the amount of blood lost. We need to hurry and help him. How did this happen?"

"He got attacked by an enemy. Can you help me carry him to a doctor's?"

"Let's take him to the mansion. I have some Runologists there specialized with these kinds of wounds." Clair went to go pick Fayt up by the arms and Maria picked him up by the legs. He was surprisingly heavy for some reason, 'cause he wasn't fat. It must've been those damn leg armors. They hurried him to the mansion where some Runologists were waiting for Clair. They carried Fayt to a room upstairs and set him down on a bed. A doctor came into the room with supplies to heal Fayt's wound. Maria and Clair left the room. While Fayt was being healed, Clair talked with Maria.

"It seems you two have finished clearing the monsters?" Clair asked Maria.

"Yes, many of them were killed. The supplies can be safely transported now."

"That's good. I heard they were already being escorted, so now we won't have to worry of attacks. Good job. I'll need to congratulate Fayt also, after he wakes up." Maria nodded. She was terribly worried about Fayt. Even though she was able to make herself calm on the outside, she was a stressed wreck on the inside. The wound Fayt got was so severe, that he even passed out from all the blood loss. She knew he shouldn't have pushed himself so hard with that wound. "I'll be back later to check on Fayt, okay? I have some work to attend to, I'll talk to you later. Bye for now." Clair said. Maria waved goodbye but then looked back at the room where Fayt was being treated. Maria's watched about these kind of injuries. She's even seen some people who died because of it! Nah… it's just her imagination. That new freakin' TV in her room is getting to her head. She shook the thought away.

_Xxxx_

Nel was still unsure about Albel. She wanted to talk to him, but she was far too shy. She wasn't sure where he was. He disappeared earlier that day and wasn't sure which direction he went in._ I have to find him… maybe I can ask around. I'm bound to know where he went if I just ask. _She decided to ask the people in the plaza first. She walked up to a girl strolling around. "Excuse me… but have you seen a tall warrior pass by? He has dark brown hair, purple clothes, and a bare midriff."

"Yeah, about 3 hours ago." A girl with light brown hair said.

"Would you be able to tell me where he was headed?" Nel asked,

"Um… I think he was going that way." The girl pointed North.

"Thank you very much." Nel started heading North.

"Hope I was able to help!" the girl said. Nel waved back at the girl then continued to walk.

_So… he's heading North. Could he possibly be looking for me? No, that's ridiculous. Although… Albel has absolutely no reason to go to Aquios. Oh well, atleast I'll be able to talk to him, if he's there… _Nel left through the North Peterny gates and headed for Aquios.

_Meanwhile… In the Arias Mansion…_

Maria had quickly fallen asleep by the door. She was huddled while sitting up and leaning against the wall. She awoke when the door nearby started opening. The female Runologist doctor walked out and went over to Maria. Maria rubbed her eye then slowly stood up. "Is he going to be okay, doctor?" She asked worriedly.

"Yes, he should be fine. Thankfully you got him here just in time. That wound was pretty serious. He started to get a fever, but luckily I brought it down. All you need to do is keep the cloth on his forehead cold and give him these pills. Give him one in the morning, and one at night.They'll help disinfect the injury." The doctor handed the small bottle of medicine to Maria. Maria took the bottle and held it with both of her hands nervously. She was still worried and she wanted to check on Fayt to make sure he was okay. She looked toward the door and luckily the doctor noticed. "Oh, yes! You can go in there. My bad!" the Runologist chuckled. "Go on in, I'll just check up on him tomorrow, kay? See ya later!" the doctor said goodbye and Maria waved her hand 'good-bye' then quietly walked into the room.

Fayt was lying on a bed with the wet rag on his forehead. He was shirtless with a bandage wrapped around his torso. Maria set the medicine on a nearby desk and walked over to him. She leaned down by the bed. She looked into his face with worried eyes. _This is all my fault that he's like this. I should've been more useful in battle. If it weren't for him, I would probably be dead right now. I'm so sorry Fayt… _She ran the back of her hand against his soft cheek. _He's so warm… _She felt the rag on his head, which needed to be cooled down again. She took the rag and partially dipped it in a cool bowl of water. She went back to Fayt and put the rag on his forehead. He quietly stirred but then settled down again._ Please get better soon… _After that thought, Maria's communicator started beeping again. She quickly answered it. "Hello?"

_"Hello Maria. Is everything okay?" _Mirage said.

"Not quite… Fayt got badly injured in battle. Oh, he's okay now! But… still not too good. And I'm totally tired. I'm too worried about Fayt to go rest. I need to stay here with him." _Since it's all my fault…_

"_That's terrible. But atleast he's okay now_." Mirage smiled. Not just because he was okay, but because Maria was so worried about him. Even though Maria didn't know it, Mirage could tell how much she cares about Fayt. "_Have you finished your mission?"_

"Yes, we have. But I can't return to the transporter yet until Fayt gets better. I'll be able to call you back on that later. How is the Diplo doing? Are they handling well without me?" Maria asked curiously. She hoped the Diplo could handle well without her.

"_Oh, the Diplo is going great! Except the fact that Lieber has been acting really really weird. I mean weirder then normal! Other then that, there aren't any problems."_

"Oh, okay. That's good."

"_Well, just checking up on you two. I better get going now. Cya later, bye!"_

"Bye." Maria put away her communicator. She turned her attention back to Fayt. She sat by the bed and rested her arms on top of it. She gently held Fayt's hand within hers and brought it to her mouth. "Don't worry, I'm here Fayt… I'll watch over you…" she said softly and calmly. She knows how to act calm in dire situations like this since she's looked up to as a leader. And after all, a leader has to keep her cool, doesn't she?

_Xxxx_

Nel quickly arrived in Aquios since there weren't many enemies to kill. She walked around the streets for a while, looking for Albel. She hoped that she might be lucky and not have to search for the rest of the day. But wait a minute, what if she spotted him but became too nervous again? She tried not to think about it. As she was walking, she heard the door of the Outfitter creak open. She jumped behind a wall and watched as Albel walked out. "Albel…" she slowly sneaked out from behind the wall.

Albel began walking in the other direction. Nel hurried up behind him. She tried to get his attention, but once again, the words wouldn't come out of her mouth. No matter how hard she tried. Albel continued to walk, unaware of Nel, who was having an argument with herself. _Just say his name! Get his attention! It's easy! No, it isn't easy! Yes. It. Is! Quit hesitating! I'm not hesitating! I'm just… waiting… You're hopeless. Then that makes you hopeless. Wait, why am I arguing with myself in the goddamn first place! _Nel quietly shook her head in disbelief of her stupidity. Even through that whole argument, Albel was still unaware of her.

He started to sense that he was being followed. He quickly turned to check behind himself and Nel ducked just as he did. _Shit shit shit… don't see me, don't see me… I'm not here. _She stayed low to the floor until Albel turned around and started walking again. Nel continued to follow but stumbled on a crack in the ground. Albel looked behind himself, but Nel was already staying low to the floor. Albel was getting suspicious so he started walking the other way to see who was following him. Nel was still huddled up on the floor when Albel started to walk toward her. As he moved his leg, he tripped over Nel and fell to the floor. "…THE HELL?" Nel quickly got up after Albel fell over her. Damn, she's been figured out! "Zelpher?" Albel yelled out. Everyone on the street looked at Albel, who was still on the floor. He got up and wiped the dust off his clothes. "WHAT'RE YOU MAGGOTS STARING AT!" the people jumped and turned their heads somewhere else. Nel jumped too, but quickly regained herself. "Nel, what're you doing?"

Nel was about to speak when Albel hushed her. He grabbed her by the wrist and led them somewhere more secluded. "Wait, not here." He brought her to a small garden with a fountain and a wooden roof with holes in it above them. They both sat down on the edge of the fountain. Nel looked down at the floor. She didn't say anything. An awkward, long silence settled over them. "Nel…" Nel looked up at Albel with hurt eyes. She was too scared to talk, not just a scared of what Albel would say, but afraid of what herself would say. Albel sighed.

"Albel… I…" Albel looked at her. The sun was already setting and it was becoming dark. Some nearby streetlights flickered on. He could see all the worry in those Amethyst pools of water. Her eyes were telling him how nervous she was, so he took his time with her. After another long silence, she finally began to speak again. "Albel… I don't understand what's going on." She took a deep breath then closed her eyes and turned her head back down toward the ground. "This whole thing… was supposed to be a big, huge lie. It was all just a plan I cooked up. All that happened… in Irisa Fields, in Peterny… it was supposed to be a lie. I was doing that to keep you away from Fayt. I didn't want you getting between him and Maria. Even so, the thing that happened in Duggus Forest was also supposed to be a lie, but then when I thought about it, it all became clear to me now. Hell, I'm not even sure my plan worked. But besides that… I didn't realize how true it was, till I actually said it, straight to your face. I'm sorry for running away like that, but I needed some time to think. It was too confusing. I was so stressed. I just didn't think I could be able to stand being near you. But not because I hate you… but because…" tears started to fill her eyes. They shone in the light of the street lamps. She looked up at Albel and moved her hand over his and held it tightly. "Because I love you… I don't know why… I really don't know…" a tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. "That's not all though… The only way to settle this is, if you answer this one question… do you love me too…?" Nel sighed heavily as more tears rolled down her soft, smooth cheeks.

Albel was totally speechless. He couldn't believe his ears, even though he wanted too. So, it was true. Nel _really _did love him, but then why was she so hurt? Could it pain someone to love him? Nel continued to cry softly as Albel thought. _Nel… I can't believe this… I can't believe anything. Especially the fact she's in love with me. What could I have ever done to make her love me? _Albel watched as tears rolled down Nel's cheeks. Albel hesitated to wrap his arms around her. He still wasn't sure how he felt about her. But he didn't really care right now. Nel needed the one she loved to comfort her, and that one was him. He slowly moved closer to Nel then wrapped his arms around her. Nel stopped breathing for a second as she realized what just happened. She could feel Albel holding her, comforting her. She buried her face deeper into his chest. She wrapped her arms around his torso but Albel didn't pull back in disgust. Instead, he just patted her back.

This was a side of Albel Nel had never seen before. She never knew he could be so caring, and gentle… Tears still escaped her eyes, but she was calmer now. Albel knew that Nel wanted an answer, or a reply. Anything to let her know what he thought about the whole situation. He finally began to talk. "Nel…" was all he managed to say. Saying her name wasn't enough, though. He couldn't figure out if he really loved her back or not. Well... he definitely didn't hate her. How could anyone hate someone so strong-hearted, beautiful, and sweet as her? That's true… she was so beautiful. The shape of her body, her gorgeous purple eyes… He gently stroked her red silky hair. Yes… she was strong-hearted. Such a strong spirit… She too, lost her father. Not under such extreme circumstances as he has, but she was able to hold in her pain after all these years. Albel knew how hard it was to do that. He sighed. He wasn't going anywhere with just thoughts. He had to say something to Nel. She still wanted to know if he loved her or not. Albel turned Nel's head to face him. She looked up at him with weary eyes.

"I… really don't know… I have to think this is over. But I will give you an answer, let it be tomorrow, or the day after. I _will _give you one, no matter what. But… please be patient for now…" Nel sighed. So basically Albel said he didn't love her, for now. She knew he wouldn't just say something like, 'I love you too with all my heart!' She knew… If he did though, it would seem strange. She should've given this more time. Nel slowly released herself from Albel's arm and stood up shakily. Albel stood up also, but looked away from her. His bangs covered the expression of his eyes. Nel stood quietly. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but soon closed it. She turned the other way, opposite Albel.

"I see… I'll wait for your answer. Right here in Aquios. I'll be waiting, so when you figure out, please come and tell me…" she gloomily started to leave the fountain area and headed toward the castle. It was now completely dark. She was there with Albel for longer then she thought. Albel looked back at Nel and sadly watched as she walked away. He couldn't figure out if the answer was 'yes… or 'no'?

_Xxxx_

Maria had fallen asleep by Fayt's bed. Her head was lying beside Fayt as her legs were on the carpet, pulled up to her chest. She was resting her head on her arms and used them as a pillow. She became too tired to stay awake any longer. She was so worried about Fayt that she wouldn't even sacrifice one night to leave his side. She was going to watch over him and take care of him until he wasn't sick anymore. The moon shone through the window and lighted up the middle of the room. It shone on Maria as she sluggishly moved her head to face the other way.

_Around 9 in the morning…_

Fayt started to open his eyes wearily. He started to sit up and the damp rag slid off his forehead and landed in his lap. His vision was blurry as he looked around. His eyes landed on something that looked like… a blue balloon…? He rubbed his eyes groggily then focused more intently on the 'balloon'. He blinked some more until he realized what the blue balloon in front of him really was. "Umria…?" he was too sleepy to pronounce her name properly. Maria murmured something under her breath, which Fayt could barely make out.

"Sorry…" Fayt didn't know why she was saying sorry, but looked around the room some more and realized his shirt was gone and that he had a bandage wrapped around his torso.

_Don't tell me… I passed out, **again? **Geez, how many more times am I gonna pass out before I **stay** passed out? Gar… wait… then that means… _He looked over at Maria who was still sound asleep. _Maria must've stayed with me through the whole night… She must be exhausted… _Fayt tried sitting up some more but a pain that went through his back told him otherwise. He laid back down and stared at the wall opposite him. After five minutes, Maria started waking up. She lifted her head. As soon as her head cleared, she remembered her main concern. She turned toward Fayt to see him already awake.

"Fayt…" she reached over and placed her hand on his forehead. He looked up at it and raised an eyebrow. "Thank goodness… you don't seem to have a fever anymore… Oh, that's right! You have to take those pills… I guess you take one right now." She sleepily got up and walked over to the desk where she left Fayt's medicine. She took one and handed it to Fayt. "Oh wait, lemme see if I can get a cup of water. Be right back." Fayt watched as Maria left the room. Wow… she was so concerned for him. He was even shocked as to how _he _was her first concern in the morning.

_I guess she's used to being in control… but that doesn't mean she shouldn't take a break once in a while… _Fayt sighed. Meanwhile, Maria was downstairs in the kitchen. She got a glass cup then filled it with water. She walked back up the stairs and brought it to Fayt. She handed it to him but the pill already melted a little on his hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry Fayt. I should've hurried with the water…" Wow, she was way too worried.

"No, it's okay. Really." Fayt put the pill in his mouth then took a drink from his water then swallowed the pill. "What exactly is the pill for anyways…?" he asked curiously.

Maria had clearly remembered what the doctor said, but she thought it'd be fun to mess around with him a bit, just to lighten up the dark mood. "Oh, not much. Just a birth control pill." Fayt started to cough then screeched out.

"**_Birth Control!_**" ((once again… not my idea. I asked my brother for an idea and this is what he gave me. Sorry if it's crazy! (curls up in fetal position and sucks thumb) don't hurt me!)) He started coughing some more as Maria started giggling.

"I'm just joking! They'll disinfect that gash on your back. Don't worry… haha, you should've seen your face." She started to giggle some more. Even though Fayt was pissed at that joke Maria just pulled, he couldn't help but notice how cute her laugh was. He was too mad to notice before the other times, but now that he _did _notice, it was the cutest laugh he's ever heard. Unlike Sophia's, which he found even more annoying then squeaky noises. ((arghh i hate that noise! shudder)).

"Cute laugh." Fayt smirked. Maria's eyes widened in embarrassment as her cheeks reddened slightly.

"Oh, uh thanks…" she made invisible circles with her finger on the sheet.

" I gotta question." Maria's finger stopped half way through a circle and she looked up at Fayt. "Were you with me the whole time after I passed out?" Maria nodded almost unnoticeably.

"Yeah… I was sacred, I didn't know what was gonna happen to you." Fayt smiled sweetly.

"Thanks. I'm flattered that you were so worried about me… I can't really think of anyone else who would stay with me the whole night when they have a bed right by them."

"Well, yeah…" Maria couldn't really reply to that. She couldn't think of anything to say. "I think we might have to stay here a couple of days until your wound heals up better. Well… atleast until the doctor removes the stitches."

"Stitches? Wow, I didn't know the cut was that bad…"

"Yeah… you passed out from loss of blood… Luckily, Clair was nearby to help me carry you here. Oh, that reminds. You should thank her. She even had one of her Runologists heal you. I'll go see where she is, kay?" Maria walked out of the room and headed downstairs to go find Clair. There wasn't really anything else to do since Fayt couldn't even stand up.

_Xxxx_

Nel was awaiting Albel's answer. She didn't want to go on any missions, which was very strange since Nel was always up for a mission. But today… she just wasn't herself. Last night with Albel had made her sad and spaced out. _When will he come? Tomorrow? The day after that? When? I need his answer… _She was sitting on the shallow steps that lead to the Aquios Castle. She just sat there, watching caterpillars crawl across the stone ground. She sighed.

Albel was in his room at the inn. He didn't want to leave it till he had an answer. The question was so hard to answer. Why couldn't it just be a 'yes' or 'no' answer? Because… love doesn't work that way. That's why. Albel shook his head. The question has been on his mind since last night. He wasn't even able to sleep well._ I don't hate her… I used to, well… I don't think it was hate. I didn't really have a reason to hate her, but I just hated everyone… Wait… I 'hated'… _Albel let out a long, deep sigh._ I guess I should leave Leingod alone… Heheh… it **was **pretty fun bothering him, though. That look on his face when I got too close was just priceless. I guess Nel would atleast like to know her plan worked, but I can't face her till I have the answer she wants. I guess… the answer she wants is 'yes'. Grr, this is frustrating. "_Dammit…" he said aloud. "What do I do…?"

While Albel was thinking, Nel left her seat on the steps and started to walk down the street. She just felt like being by Albel for some reason. She wanted to be in his arms like last night, but if last night didn't mean anything to him… She could only tell if he answered her. Where was he anyway? He didn't leave Aquios, did he? She hoped not… She stopped walking and let the cool breeze blow through her hair.

Albel was now pacing the room in thought. He just needed to see Nel again. See her beautiful face… He slowly walked to his bedroom door and set his hand on the knob. He was just about to turn it when he stopped. _Am I sure about this…? _He stood for a minute but then decided to turn the knob and walked out. He strolled down the stairs and left the inn. He got outside but didn't have to look around long. Nel was leaning against a shop wall, about 30 feet away from him. He took a deep breath then walked over to her. Nel looked up and was shocked by the sight of Albel walking to her.

"A-Albel…?" Albel stopped walking and stood idle, 2 feet away from Nel. She walked shakily over to Albel, but then wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest. "Albel… Albel, I don't care if you don't love me, or even if you hate me, I just want to be with you. I don't want to leave your side. Please stay here with me…" Albel put his arms around Nel.

"Nel…" Nel looked up at him. Her face was an inch away from his. He could see her every emotion in her eyes. So much sadness… "Don't say that… I could never hate you. I've never had a reason to hate you. In fact, I'll _personally_ hurt anyone that hates you." Nel could only stare at him without any words.

"Al…bel…" she leaned in and kisses him on the lips. It was definitely something Albel didn't expect, but he didn't pull away. Nel separated her lips from his then smiled. "You've… never been so nice before Albel…" she couldn't believe she used to actually despise Albel with all her guts when he first joined their party. He's surprised her yesterday and today. She's figuring out things about his personality she never knew before. She brought her arms down and wrapped them around Albel's waist. She laid her head back down on his chest. "But… I still don't know… if you love me…" Albel hugged her tighter and said softly into her ear.

"Ofcourse I do… and I always will." Nel's heart skipped a beat. That was just what she wanted to hear. She smiled and looked up at Albel. It made him happy to see her smile and he couldn't help but smile also. Wait… Albel was… _smiling?_ Wow, Nel was now shocked as ever. Albel noticed her shock and laughed softly. "Shocked?" he gently moved some bangs away from her eyes.

"Oh Albel…" her eyes started to glitter with the tears gathering there. But they weren't tears of sadness, or stress. They were tears of joy. She hugged Albel again, tighter then ever. Albel smiled again. Oh, that's right… he had to tell her that he'd leave Fayt alone. Its probably another thing she wanted to hear.

"Oh, and yes. Don't worry. I'm gonna leave Fayt alone. So don't worry." Nel's smile widened. She never felt so happy before. She was even happier then her first day of duty as a Crimson Blade Spy. ((which I can imagine she must've been very excited about)).

_Xxxx_

Clair smiled at Fayt as she sat down the bed opposite him. "Thank you for your work, Fayt. I really appreciate all the hard work you put into the mission. I am also terribly sorry for the injury you have received." Fayt shook his head.

"It's no problem. But I should also thank you for bringing me here. I don't know what could've happened to me if it weren't for you." He bowed his head slightly in thanking her.

"You're welcome. Oh, you two have already missed breakfast, but lunch is being going to made soon. I'll have someone bring a tray up to you Fayt." Maria, who was sitting on the same bed as Fayt, interrupted.

"Oh, um… I'd like to eat up here too." She lowered her head as her eyes looked up at Clair. Clair smiled and nodded. She didn't quite have a plan to make them like each other more, but she could already tell they were getting along just fine when Maria said that.

"Ofcourse. You can eat up here if you want." Maria nodded.

"Okay…"

"Well, I better leave now. I'll see you two guys later. Goodbye now."

"Bye." Maria and Fayt said. When Clair left, Maria turned toward Fayt.

"Are you feeling better? Can you last till lunch? Should I go buy a small snack for you?" Fayt out one hand behind his head and the other was waving 'no'.

"Oh, no no no. I'm okay, really. I can last till lunch."

"You sure…? Cuz… from what I've experienced, when you get hungry, your stomach growls and makes it sound like there's an earthquake." Fayt's cheeks blushed pink.

"Well…. Yeah… that does tend to happen…"

"But it's okay." She smiled at him. "I'm just still glad that you're okay…"

Fayt frowned. "I'm sorry I worried you…"

"No… I should be sorry. It's all my fault you got injured. If it weren't for me, we could be on our way back to the Diplo…" Fayt's eyebrows turned upward in a worried look.

"Maria…" Fayt said. Maria looked at him. He cupped one of her cheeks in his hand and said softly. ((well, his voice is usually always soft, which is so sweet)) "Nothing is your fault. You have nothing to apologize for. It's all that bastard Convictor's fault. Don't blame yourself for anything…" Maria sighed. She held his hand that was on her cheek in both of hers.

"I don't know… I'm still going to watch over you no matter what. Don't worry, I'm not sad or anything. Infact, I'm happy just seeing you alive and well." She smiled sweetly, a smile Fayt never saw before. But why is her smile so different all of a sudden? What was she feeling that made her smile in such a sweet, caring way?

"Well, okay then. But I don't want you thinking other stuff is all your fault. And you know, don't ever blame yourself for your parent's death. That's something I don't want you blaming yourself for, along with my injury. Please don't worry about anything, just take a break, while you can. You're not on the Diplo right now and you don't have any duties. So just take it easy, alright?" Maria nodded.

"Okay, Fayt…" she set her head down against his chest. "I won't blame myself… and I'll take a break, just like you want…" she sighed. "But, you know. I'm still going to take care of you. And if you try to stop that, then I'll just stuff a sock in your mouth, cuz I won't hear any part of it." Fayt smiled.

"Okay. But I think I like all this extra attention anyways." Fayt wrapped is arms around her waist. "Aw man… what a bummer! This sucks…"

Maria gave him a confused look. "What sucks?"

"I can't walk around with this injury! I'm gonna be sittin' on my ass fer days! What the hell am I gonna do if I can't even leave this place?" Maria giggled.

"Huh, you mean that you don't like my presence? Am I too boring?"

"Oh, ofcourse you're not boring! I didn't say that!" Maria smiled then rested her head on Fayt's chest.

"Sure… whatever you say…"

_Xxxx_

**Author's Note: **Ugh, I know. The first part of this chapter isn't funny at all, that's why I tried to atleast add some humor in parts of it… But, I didn't think that humor matched too well with a lot of this chapter. ((sigh)) What the hell am I gonna do… Aww yay! I got Nel together with Albel! But ofcourse, I hope you could tell how much confusion I tried to put into their feelings. Aw, isn't it sweet how Maria was so worried for Fayt? I'll need to dig deeper into their feelings… I need to show how they feel about eachother right now. It's only common sense, right? I can't create a FeiMari fic without their thoughts on the whole situation. So, anyways… I think I'm going to hafta keep Fayt in bed for the next chapter. Honestly, I don't even know _what _I'm going to do for the next chapter. Oh well, less worrying, more planning! Please review! The more you review, the sooner I can get up my chapters. Your reviews mean the most to me!


	7. People Are So Nosy

Xxxx 

Disclaimer: Nooooo don't sue meeee! I don't own these guys! Or the game they're from!

**Author's Note: **Wow… chapter seven… my other fic stopped here before I started typing this one… oh, that's right… my other fic… ((depressed sigh)) it's like, so totally dead now… But, this isn't about my other fic, this is about _this _fic, the one yer readin' now. So anyways, back to my point. I'm already at chapter seven, and I submitted this fic like what… last month? That's good though. Oh, and what was with the lack of reviews last chapter? It made me sad… Yes, I know I know. I'm already at chapter seven and the scene I mentioned in my summary still hasn't happened. But I can't just throw poor defenseless Fayt into the hands of the federation with _that _injury! Oh, and yer probably wonderin' when Fayt and Maria will finally kiss… well… I haven't quite decided that yet, but I _do _have a scene in my head of where they'll kiss. XD Lol… so… Er… sorry for my lack of humor. I think I used too much in my last chapters. Oh, and_ once again,_ I planned this all while typing… Go easy on me! Enjoy!

**Aoshi: **heehee, thank you!

**Daisuke Niwa: **Will do!

**Moric: **thanks!

**asga: **lol. XD. Thanks!

**systemfree: **lol, so many people hate Sophia. Thank you very much!

**Kitsurumenokitsune: **thank you!

Xxxx 

**_Chapter 7: _**People are so Nosy

Xxxx 

One of Clair's runologists came up about an hour and a half later with the trays of food. She set down one on Maria's bed, and one on Fayt's. Fayt was already pigging into his food, more ravenously then the meal back at Peterny. Maria, on the other hand, was taking her time with her meal. She didn't want to get a stomachache.

"Fayt, you shouldn't eat so quick. You'll get sick…" Maria said, concerned for Fayt.

"But!… but I'm hungry!" He squeaked. ((not really 'squeak', just that noise his voice makes sometimes. Like when he yells er sumthin… shrugs))

"You _always _use that excuse…" she sadly shook her head then continued to eat. After the meal, Maria took hers and Fayt's trays downstairs. Fayt was lying on his bed groaning. Maria was right, he shouldn't have eaten so quick. And plus, there wasn't any room for his stomach to expand with that bandage! He let out a long moan as he rolled over to the other side of the bed.

"Too much… food… stomach…hurting…ouuuchhhhhiiieeesss…" Maria came back into the room and sighed as she walked up to Fayt.

"What's the matter?"

"This bandage is tight! Grr… have the damn doctor change it or sumthin!" Fayt said angrily.

"You ate too much… it wouldn't hurt if you ate just a little less… But okay, I'll go see if the doctor is here, kay?" Fayt nodded then set his head down on his pillow. Maria returned with the doctor soon after. ((no, not a doctor in a white suit. A doctor that looks like a Runologist…)) The doctor sat down on Fayt's bed as Maria sat on hers and waited patiently. The doctor removed the bandages to reveal a huge red cut on Fayt's back. Fayt cringed from the pain and stuck his fist in his mouth and bit on it. The cut hurt **a lot.** The doctor took her bag and pulled out a small jar of white gooey stuff…

"The hell is that for? You aren't gonna make me _eat **that**, _are you!" Fayt said, panicking. The doctor laughed then shook her head.

"Ofcourse not! This helps the wound heal quicker. I have to put it on the wound, so I'm warning you now that it'll hurt. But I think you can stand the pain." Pain? Aw great, just what Fayt DIDN'T need. The doctor took a small cotton square and got some of the gooey thingy stuff on it. She put it to Fayt's back and right when she touched it…

"**_HOLY BAJEEBAS!_**" He yelled out loud. The doctor gave him an odd stare but then continued to rub the wound. "**_Gosh DAMN that hurts!_ What'd I ever do to deserve this?" **He clenched his fists and kicked his feet trying to stand all the pain. After two minutes of struggling and suffering, the doctor was done applying the gooey stuff.

"There, all done… Now I just need to put on a new bandage and I can go." She took a huge white bandage ((not a Band-Aid)) from her bag and slowly began to wrap it around Fayt's torso.

"Hey hey hey! Not too tight!" The doctor nodded then loosened the bandage. She finished wrapping it around him then put her stuff away and sat up from his bed.

"Well, there you go now! All done! See ya later!" the doctor left the room and Fayt pouted.

"She hurt me on purpose…" Fayt said. "Man…. What am I gonna do?"

Maria watched Fayt as she thought. "Um… I dunno… we can talk, if you want, but there isn't too much to talk about… I don't really have anything to do out of this building anyways, so I guess I'll stay here."

"That's good… I like having you here…" Fayt said quietly. Maria tilted her head.

"What was that, Fayt?"

"Er, um. Eh… I said, uh… Oh poo, I think that hurt my ear! Eheheh…" Maria raised an eyebrow. Fayt frowned. He should just tell her what he really said. "Well, um actually… I said 'good, I like having you here…'" Maria smiled. Fayt rubbed his head as he blushed.

"And I like being here with you, Fayt…" she said bashfully. It was Fayt's turn to smile. But not for long as he rubbed his shoulders.

"Oh man, my shoulders are killing me! My day has just gotten worse…" Maria got off her bed and walked over to him.

"Ummm…want me to massage them for you? People tell me I'm pretty good… I can do it if you want." Fayt looked up at her.

"You'd really do that? Thanks."

"No problem." Maria sat down on the bed behind Fayt and started to massage his shoulders. Her hands carefully moved along his bare shoulders. ((remember, he still has a bandage on since his shirt's covered with blood and the other one is still dirty)). Fayt was quickly drifting into sleep. He started to slowly fall backwards as his head rested on Maria. "F-Fayt…? What're you doing…?" she leaned over to look at his face to figure out that Fayt had fallen asleep. She smiled. _He must've been so tired… _"It's okay now Fayt… go ahead and rest all you want…" she said quietly. She set her arm around his waist while the other hand gently rubbed his hair. She too, soon quickly fell into a light sleep.

_Xxxx_

Nel smiled. Albel had his arm around her as they were walking and she was leaning against him with her arm around him also. They walked down the street and headed toward a small, peaceful area. It was down stairs toward the East side of the city and the stairs lead down to a porch-like area that was near running water. It was usually always deserted and such a nice place to be. ((if u guys know wut I'm talkin about, it's where Maria tells Fayt about her past…)).

They both stood, staring out at the water. The sound of a nearby waterfall, the slight cooling breeze, and the beautiful trees surrounding the cliff, turned the little area into a somewhat sanctuary. All was not good yet though… "Albel…" Nel looked up at Albel as he responded to his name. Nel just wanted to make sure… "You… you really do love me, right…?" Albel's eyebrows turned upward in worry. "It's not just pity love… is it? "

"Nel… why do you ask such a question?" Nel frowned.

"I… I don't know. I just… I just wanted to ask. It was the way I was acting… all those tears, and what I said… I just wouldn't want you to say that just to make me feel better. Do you truly, really love me? From the bottom of your heart?" Nel half closed her eyes in pain. Did Albel really love her as much as she loved him? It was hard to believe… she didn't even know Albel could love. And here she has him telling her that he loves her. Even though the words made her happy, it was just far too hard to believe.

Albel frowned and closed his eyes as he looked away. That was actually a hard question. He didn't expect Nel to ask such a question. He wasn't sure how to answer it either, or if he even had the answer. He loved Nel, didn't he? …Didn't he…? Perhaps… a fake love? "Nel… I…" Albel sighed. "Honestly… I don't know…" Nel looked down at the floor.

"You don't know…? So then, you really don't love me with all your heart?" Her voice was shaky.

"No… I love you. It's just… I really don't know the answer to that question right now…" Nel slowly pushed herself away from Albel and looked up at him with pained eyes. "Nel…"

Nel looked down at the floor and softly clenched her fists. "Then how are you so sure you really actually love me, Albel? How are so sure… How can you _be_ so sure, that you actually love me? I can't be with someone who doesn't have the same feelings for me as I have them." A warm tear fell to the ground and soaked into the dirt. Albel was quiet, lost in thoughts, staring out at the water. He hated seeing Nel hurt like this. And to make it worse, she was hurt because of him. He felt so bad right now. It seems he's broken her heart. He broke the heart of the only one who was able to get past a barrier around him. "Well, tell me. How're you so sure?" Albel looked at her as she continued to stare down at the floor. He remained silent. He couldn't answer that either. "Fine then… if you don't know, then I should just leave instead of stick around here… if you don't really love me at all, then I have no reason to ever see you again. Good bye, Albel." She wiped her eyes then walked away. Albel frowned as he watched Nel leave. He could've said something. Anything! Poor Nel… she didn't deserve such a bastard like him. He still wasn't out of the inferno. Instead, he's such turned it into an abyss _of _inferno.

Xxxx 

Clair headed upstairs. Since she didn't have any work to do at the moment, she decided to check up on Fayt and Maria. As she opened the door, she stopped abruptly to find them asleep. She continued to open the door slowly then tip-toed in and stood by the said door. She smiled. Maria was asleep, leaning against the headboard of the bed. Fayt was asleep in her arms, leaning against her. Clair's smile widened. They looked so cute and sweet together. She didn't want to disturb them so she quickly tip-toed backward out of the room and silently closed the door.

Fayt slowly started to open his eyes. He blinked until his vision cleared. He tried to sit up, but found that he couldn't move. He looked down and saw two arms around his waist. He froze. Whose arms were these? He slowly started to turn his head around until he came face to face with Maria. Fayt blushed bright red. He couldn't believe he fell asleep in Maria's arms! If he tried moving, he would wake her up. If he stayed there, she would still wake up. While Fayt was stuck staring at Maria with a face pinker then bubble gum, Maria began to wake up. She saw something blurry… it was blue… had two green eyes… Eyes? Her eyes snapped open in full realization of what the blue blurry thing was. "Fayt!" her cheeks pinkened. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep…!" Fayt was pushed forward as Maria tried getting off the bed. She fell to the floor on her knees but quickly got up then looked back at Fayt. Both were blushing brightly. Even though they were embarrassed as hell, Fayt still couldn't help but notice Maria was quite cute when she blushed. His blush reddened at the thought. Maria noticed, but didn't ask why his blush reddened.

Fayt finally decided to talk. "No, I'm sorry. I must've fallen asleep first. I really should be the one apologizing. Sorry, Maria…" Maria calmed down as her blush faded away, as so did Fayt's.

"It's ok… Well, does your back feel better?" Fayt nodded.

"Yeah, thanks a whole lot. You really are good at massaging."

Maria smiled. "Thanks." The room became quiet again as Maria sat down on her bed with her hands resting on her laps. Fayt looked down at the floor. Maria got up as Fayt looked up at her. "It's a bit stuffy in here. Mind if I open the window?" she asked.

"Not at all." Maria nodded then walked over to a window and opened it. She took in a big breath of the fresh air and let it all out.

"It feels real nice…"

Fayt closed his eyes as the cool air blew across his face and hair. "Yeah… sure does…"

"Say… Fayt… do you think you're better enough to walk with me? I think the fresh air would do you some good." Maria said. Fayt slowly got up and stretched then rubbed his back. He would be able to walk since his back pain was gone, even though the cut still stung. He gained his energy back, too.

"Hmm… I think so… but, I still need a shirt…" Maria had totally forgotten Fayt didn't have a shirt at the moment. She walked over to her pile of stuff and grabbed some fol. About 500 to be exact.

"I'll go buy you one. They shouldn't cost too much." Fayt felt ashamed. Maria was doing everything for him. He felt absolutely hopeless. Maria walked to the door and turned around. "I'll see you in about ten minutes, okay?" Fayt said 'okay' as Maria left the room. What could he do in ten minutes? He wasn't tired at all, after his long rest and short nap. He laid back down and put his hands behind his head. He stared at the ceiling in boredom.

Meanwhile, in the streets of Arias… 

Maria looked around town for any store that might sell clothing. Arias was small, but there had to be a shop that sold clothes. The only reason why there wouldn't be is if everyone walked around in the nude… but people here wore clothes, so that excuse was not an option. There weren't many shops, so she didn't have to look for long until she found one with few items of clothing. She bought a simple white T-shirt, hoping it was the right size. She returned back to the mansion in the middle of the village and quickly headed upstairs. She walked into the room and went over to Fayt. "Here you go Fayt. I hope it's the right size…" Fayt took it from her hands and put it on. Luckily, it fit perfectly. Maria's guess was good. But she probably had a good idea of what size shirt Fayt wore since she had her arms around him. Just that thought turned her cheeks slightly pink.

"Hey, this fits really good. It's comfortable too…" Fayt felt weird wearing a shirt after being shirtless for so

long. But he was also becoming cold without one. Fayt mentally whacked himself for almost forgetting to say, "Thanks." Maria snapped out of thought.

"Huh? O-oh… it's no problem… So, we gonna get going now?" Fayt got off from his bed and nodded. Fayt was now wearing a white shirt and black pants along with some plain old shoes. His leg armor was discarded in a pile in the room, along with Maria's armor and jacket. They walked out of the room and left the building. When they got outside, a cool chill blew by them. It was already late evening and the weather was cooling down. "I don't get it… how can the weather change from hot to cold so quickly?" Maria wondered aloud.

"Who knows. Elicoor's weather is different from Earth's, which I figured out by staying for so long." Fayt said.

"That's right… you were stuck here for a long time before I came and got you, huh?" Fayt nodded. "And even when I arrived, we didn't leave right away. There was still the Vendeeni and Crossel to deal with." They were walking down the dirt road.

"Yeah… crazy, isn't it?" Maria nodded. They continued to walk, taking in the fresh air. The village was still damaged, but they hoped to see that changed soon enough. They continued to talk and laugh, enjoying each other's company. They walked by the tree near the East exit of the town and decided to stay and talk there. Maria leaned against the tree. Fayt leaned on the tree also, with Maria still in site. He turned his head to face her. "This place is actually quite nice when we're not fretting over matters. I've never had the time to enjoy it really… First time I was here, I didn't even pay attention to anything. I just bought supplies and went to bed. But now that I notice, this place is kinda nice if you don't pay attention to the destroyed buildings."

"Yeah… hopefully they'll be fixed soon though, no?" Fayt said. Maria looked over at him.

"Yeah." A cold breeze blew by the tree, making the leaves vibrate and blow in the wind. Maria put her hands around her arms and rubbed them. It was so cold… and she didn't have any warm clothes. Plus her jacket was in the mansion, but it was also too small to keep her that warm. Fayt noticed and got off from leaning on the tree and walked over to her. "Are you cold?"

Maria looked up at Fayt in surprise. "Oh um… I'm fine…" Fayt walked closer then wrapped his arms around her. Maria blinked in shock.

"Does that feel better?" he asked her. Maria looked down at the floor bashfully.

"Y-yeah…" Maria was soon becoming warmer as Fayt held her close. She felt… glad to be in his arms. She didn't know why though. Why was she so calm in his arms, when clearly no one else could've comforted her? She turned her head to have her face right in front of his. "Fayt…" she leaned in closer, about to kiss him when they heard someone yell out their names.

"Fayt, Maria! There you are!" a runologist was running toward them. Maria quickly pushed herself away from Fayt as he straightened himself off from the tree. "Sorry… was I interrupting something…?" she asked.

"N-no, ofcourse not! What is it?" Fayt said.

"Well, Lady Clair was just wondering where you guys were… and she wanted to tell you dinner would be made soon. Well, okay, that was all!" the runologist turned back around and headed for the mansion.

"Ugh… that was _all_ she had to say?" Maria sighed. She moved back over to Fayt. "I guess we should go back to the building now, huh?"

Fayt nodded. "Yeah… let's go…" They started to walk back to the mansion. Maria shook her head in pity. Damn runologist… she ruined the moment!

Xxxx 

Albel was still in the same spot Nel had left him at. He was sitting on the floor cross legged with his head in his hands. He hit the floor hard with his fleshy hand. "Damn it all…" He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to think… he barely knew anything anymore. He let the woman of his dreams get away. He could never see her again after what just happened. So what could he do now, just… leave? Leave behind Nel? Leave Aquios? He shook his head in confusion and rubbed his eyes. "This sucks…"

"Excuse me?" Albel jumped and looked behind him. A little boy around the age of seven was standing there.

"What is it, maggot?" Albel replied harshly.

"Um… I noticed you've been here for a while now. Are you okay mister?" The boy asked.

"I'm fine worm, now leave me alone…" he looked away from the kid.

"You don't look fine…"

Albel turned his head toward the boy, irritated by this little brat's will to bother him so. "Listen brat, whatever is wrong with me is none of your business. And whatever happened is also none of your business. Now go back home like a good little boy... Grr, I don't have any time to mess with talking to an idiot like you."

"Oh, then something _did _happen." The little kid said curiously. Albel cursed under his breath. "Say… did it involve that girl with the red hair?"

Albel gave the kid a nasty glare. The kid continued to speak. "She looked pretty hurt… I think you should apologize to her…" The kid stopped talking as Albel got up and walked over to him. He looked down at the little kid. "Well, what're you gonna do?" the kid obviously wasn't scared. He seemed pretty intent on helping Albel, even though he didn't want the boy's help. "If I were you, I wouldn't let someone like that leave my life so easily-" at that word, a woman from above the cliff started calling out.

"Allen! Is that you! Get back here! It's getting dark and dinner's ready!" the irritated woman called out. The little kid, who was looking up at his mom, turned his head back toward Albel.

"Aw man, I gotta go now. But think about what I said, ok? You should get back home too, bye!" the little kid then turned around and ran up the stairs of the cliff and went to his mom. Albel continued to glare at the boy till he could no longer see him.

"Bah…" Albel simply said. _Little brat… He's lucky I didn't slice him in two. _Even though he may have been a nosy brat, he was still right. Albel needed to apologize and make up for it. But how? He'd have to wait a couple of days before talking to her again. His best guess would be to stay away till he had his answer. Arias was probably good. He went up the stairs and didn't waste any time preparing to leave. He didn't bother to get any sleep that night and soon left the city, leaving behind a heart-broken Nel…

Xxxx 

Fayt and Maria entered the Arias mansion and saw Clair, who was just finished talking with a subordinate. "Oh, there you are Fayt and Maria. I see you were able to walk, Fayt? Anyways… It was getting dark… Glad you're back. Well, dinner is just about ready. You two should clean up." Fayt and Maria nodded then did as they were told. Five minutes later, dinner was ready. They ate quietly, along with Clair and other Runologists. "Fayt, Maria." Fayt and Maria looked at Clair. "Have you seen Nel lately?" she asked.

Fayt swallowed his food then replied. "Yeah… when we first arrived here. But we haven't seen her since then."

"Oh, I see…" Clair said. "I hope she's doing well…" honestly, Clair couldn't stand being separated from Nel. Nel was gone for a while now. Last time she saw her was about a week and a half ago. Just that amount of time upset Clair._ Nel…_ Maria noticed Clair sadden.

"Clair… is something wrong?" she asked her. Clair looked at her then tried hiding her pain with a smile.

"Oh, everything is fine. Please, don't mind me." Maria only felt worried for Clair.

"…"

"You don't have to worry. Go ahead and continue to eat." Maria sighed then looked back at her plate of food. Maria and Fayt finished eating then left the room and headed upstairs to theirs. When they got in the room, Maria closed the door then turned to Fayt.

"Fayt." He looked at her. "I know something is wrong with Clair, it worries me… " Fayt set a hand on her shoulder.

"I noticed too, but she already said she's okay. I don't think you'll get anything out of her. You might as well just stay out of it, if it'll help. Don't fret yourself over her. She's fine." Maria closed her eyes in thought.

"You may be right… but she just seemed sad at the mention of Nel, or after she mentioned Nel. I want to know what the problem is."

"You'd best leave matters alone. I've put my nose where it didn't belong plenty of times. Trust me. Don't let Clair's behaviour ((lol sorry! I just like spelling it that way XD)) concern you. Kay?"

Maria stayed silent. "Well… okay. You win."

"Good, as long as you understand." Fayt smiled. Truth be told, Maria was going to get to the bottom of this. It was time for 'Prime Detective Maria'! Hahaha, the thought of Maria in a detective suit is funny… back to the point! She was going to make Clair spill the beans. She could solve 'The Clair and Nel Mystery'! Maybe have it put on TV! Okay… she's going to far with this… she shook her head out of it's crazy thoughts then went back to reality. But she was still going to figure out what the hell is wrong with Clair, behind Fayt's back. Wait, what if he figures out? DAMN. Oh well, what could he do about it?

"Eh… Fayt. I'm going to go get a drink of water. Be back kay?" She walked out of the room and quickly headed down the stairs. She looked around the rooms till she found Clair. "Clair." Clair looked around in surprise to see Maria.

"Maria? What're you doing?" Clair asked confusingly.

"Clair. I know something is wrong, and I won't leave you alone till you tell me what the matter is." Clair pulled back. She was shocked at Maria's nosy-ness. She always thought Maria was an understanding, young woman…

"Maria, what…?"

"Please Clair, tell me. I know I'm sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, but just please tell me what the matter is. I noticed the mention of Nel hurts you." Clair lowered her eyelids.

_Nel…_ She looked at Maria, sternly. "Yes, so? What does it have to do with anything."

"Clair… I just really want to know what's bothering you. It's not like I'll tell anyone anything, and I might be able to help…" Clair closed her eyes then sighed.

"I don't really care if anyone knows, it's just… I miss Nel. That's all there is really to it. I'm just worried… and… I don't like it when she leaves. Especially for more then a week. It hurts me, it really does. There's nothing you can do. Like my love for Nel even matters…" she stopped, realizing what she told Maria.

"Oh, so that's it…" Clair turned away. "I'm sorry… I just wanted to know, but now that I do, I won't be bothering you. Thank you for telling me though. See you in the morning Clair…" she slowly backed off from Clair then left the room she found her in and went back to her and Fayt's room. _Poor Clair… so that's what has been bothering her. Atleast I got it out of her. But she's right, there's nothing I can do… Almost like that whole Albel thing… I wonder who Nel loves…? _She walked into the room to find Fayt already sound asleep. She crossed her arms, bringing one of her hands up to her chin. She quietly walked over to Fayt then leaned over and kissed him lightly on the forehead and ran her hand through his hair. "Good night, Fayt…"

Xxxx 

**Author's Note: **Okay… so I couldn't help it with the Clair thing… don't hurt me! Please, I beg of you! ((cowers before sharp pointy spears)) Neh? Oh… I pried Albel and Nel apart! Don't kill me for that either! I'll get them back together, I promise! Not the next chapter, but soon! Or… maybe I'll just screw all of you over and have Fayt dump Maria then hook up with Albel and Nel forget about Albel then jump at Clair in raging passion while Maria is stuck with her teddy bear named Ed! Evil, huh? That doesn't sound too bad, actually… Hahaha, don't worry. I'm not _that_ evil… This chapter is shorter then the last ones. But someone told me chapter 4 was long, so I'm like… "Wait, they thought _four _was long? Then 5 and 6 are too long… I should make chapter 7 shorter. XD". So here you have it, chapter 7. Please don't give up on me! Oh… I need your guys opinion… are you all still looking forward to that scene I mentioned in the summary? Yes? No? I don't know if I should actually continue with that or not… 'cause to me, the story is progressing pretty good. Or maybe I need to add the scene to make the fic longer? Please give me your comment when you review! I'm totally lost here! Just tell me if you think I should or shouldn't type up the scene. ((cries in frustration)). Review please! If you want to see a chapter 8, I need reviews!

**Side Note: **Okay, I should add that I'm gonna take longer to type up chapter 8. I don't have too many ideas for it, and I kinda don't really feel all that pumped up about typing it. But no worries! I should still get it up within two weeks, but in the meanwhile, I _really _need to concentrate some more on my (fan)art. It's been delayed far too long. Well, see ya soon! Oh, and please still review if you want the chapter even sooner!


	8. Happenings

Xxxx 

Disclaimer: How many more times do I hafta type this…? Well, as long until I _want _to get sued, but that will never happen, so I better quit complaining now…

**Author's Note: **Firstly, I must apologize for such the long delay. I should've finished this chapter before school started… but I'm going to try and update more often. Once again, I'm so sorry. I feel so bad for making you all wait so long. I hope that none of you have lost hope in me. I'm really going to try better to update. I just need harsh words and yelling if that will happen. So scold and yell at me all you want, for it will force me to update sooner.

Also, after much deliberation, I have decided to continue on with that scene mentioned in the summary for this story… since I figured I could have more scenes for it, and also continue the AlNel situation, it shall be continued. So, now that that's settled, I should apologize once again for the delay for this chapter… But now that I've sat down and started typing chapter 8, I'll do my best with this chapter. Please enjoy!

**To everyone who reviewed before this chapter: **Thank you all so much for the kind reviews. I really appreciate it! And also, your reviews allow me to think of what will happen later on in the story. Thanks so much! Oh, and Fayt, I dunno if you got my email, but yes. There is something similar to new game plus after you defeat the game. Not quite, but similar. Haha, and also Fayt, thanks for all those reviews. And Alouete… The AlNel relationship wasn't really anywhere in the first place. Haha, you'll see what I mean once you read this chapter.

Xxxx 

**_Chapter 8: _**Happenings

Xxxx 

Fayt and Maria were a woken by the sound of a horse-drawn carriage. ((actually, the creatures carrying it look like horses, even though they aren't…)) They drowsily sat up then rubbed their eyes. Maria got out of bed and looked around in a daze. "What's going on…?" Fayt got up and walked over to her.

"Let's go check it out." They headed down the stairs, still sleepy, and walked out of the mansion into the chilling morning air. They looked to their left to see the horse-like creatures dragging a carriage with the supplies for Arias. They both smiled, glad to see the supplies were transported safely. "Looks like they made it. Glad to see we didn't fail…"

"Yeah." Maria nodded. Clair walked out of the door behind them and stood, avoiding eye contact with Maria.

"Here you guys are. Thanks to you two, the supplies made it here safely, as you can see. We all owe the both of you our thanks." She said, continuing to walk to the carriage.

Fayt rubbed his head. "Ah… it was no problem." Maria turned toward Fayt.

"We should get back to the Diplo. Do you think you're better enough to depart?" Maria asked him.

Fayt rubbed his back, of where the pain had resided. "Hmm… I think so. Although I should hope we don't run into a lotta enemies." Maria brought her hand to her chin.

"Then it's settled. We should leave by tomorrow. You'll probably be more healed by then." Fayt nodded. Maria walked over to Clair and placed her hand on her shoulder. Clair slightly jumped, but quickly regained herself.

"I dunno if I should say sorry or…" Clair looked at Maria.

"No need. You didn't do anything wrong…" but that ofcourse, was only partly true. Maria demanding Clair what she wanted to know was actually quite rude. Maria sighed.

"No, I'm real sorry. Now that I look back at it, I was far too rude. I hope you can forgive me. Well, now, I better get going. See you later." Clair only nodded slightly as Maria walked over to Fayt, who had an eyebrow raised in question. Maria only laughed nervously a she walked past him, and at that, they both headed back up to the guest room of which they were staying at. Once they walked into the room, they stood without knowing what to do. They just headed over to their beds and sat down. Fayt was curios about what Maria was so sorry about down stairs.

"Say… what were you apologizing for down there?" He asked. Maria looked up at him, as she replied nervously.

"O-oh, that? It was nothing…" Fayt's eyes narrowed.

"Wait a second, don't tell me you tried butting into her business and asking what was bothering her, did you? Aw, Maria, you really shouldn't have done that!" he said, trying to keep his tone calm.

Maria frowned slightly, "Oh, but I couldn't help it. I really wanted to know. I don't like to see people upset, y'know? And it'd help if I knew what was bothering them. Well, I don't see how it helps, but…"

Fayt sighed. "What does it matter now? I think you upset Clair some more now…" Fayt rubbed the back of his head. Well, now that Maria had already gotten an answer from Clair, he wanted to know what it was. "But um, now that you've already asked…" Maria smiled tauntingly.

"Ohoho, you wanna know too now, huh? Well, I'll tell you. _Maybe… _actually, you'll have to pay me 50,000 fol._"_

"Fine then. Suit yourself. I don't wanna know anyways." After that, Fayt showed some sign of the end of the conversation, but Maria couldn't resist.

"Oh fine! I'll tell you!" Fayt looked back at her and paid attention. He _did _want to know, now didn't he? "You see… well, Clair loves Nel, and is pained when she's not home… there, happy?" Maria crossed her arms and looked the other way. Fayt sat, slack jawed.

"That's…" he paused. "**All!** That's so obvious!" Maria turned back around. "I mean like, me and Cliff could obviously tell when we first met Clair." Fayt rolled his eyes, which seemed fairly girlie, as he leaned on the wall by his bed. Maria rubbed her chin with one finger, as if she was thinking of what to say, but just ended up saying.

"Well, you know I haven't known Clair as long as you have. But if you knew, why didn't you tell me!" Maria said. Fayt smiled as Maria formed a confused look upon her face.

"Heh, 'cause it was fun to see what you would do. You're pretty unpredictable sometimes, you know? But I didn't really know. But that was just my best assumption."

Maria sat quiet, as if she was mad at Fayt, but then loosened up into a smile. "Hahaha, you're smarter then you look." Fayt nodded his head in agreement, but then sat up abruptly.

"H-hey!" Maria chuckled quietly. Fayt rubbed his head, but then sighed. Once again, they had nothing to do. Fayt looked back up at Maria. She looked exhausted… all that battling, worrying over him… Her eyelids laid halfway over her tired eyes. He frowned. Now it was _his _turn to apologize. "Sorry…"

The young woman looked at him and blinked, obviously not expecting Fayt to apologize for whatever it was. _If _that was considered an apology. If you have had first-hand experience, which I'm sure is all of you, then you should know it's not easy to understand someone when they mumble something out of the blue. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry…" Fayt said again, this time more defined.

"For what?" she raised an eyebrow, still confused.

Fayt sighed. "For worrying you so much before, stressing you out 'n all…"

"Fayt, it's ok… quit worrying about it…" she said.

"If you really insist…" he said gloomily. Maria could tell he wasn't really going to give it up so easily so she got off her bed and walked over to him then set her hands on his shoulders.

"Please, Fayt. You don't have to worry. Everything is perfectly fine. I worried before, but now I'm okay." She said reassuringly.

Fayt looked straight at her face, then hesitantly said, "But… you don't look that okay."

"Are you saying I look like a mess?" a smile escaped from her lips. Fayt smiled and chuckled. "I can't argue… I really need to brush my hair… but everything should be normal once we get back to the Diplo, right?" _Oh man… but then there'll be that little problem called 'Lieber'. _Maria bit her lower lip. "Aw this isn't good…"

"What isn't good?" Fayt asked.

"How am I going to explain to Lieber that whole scene that happened back in the room in Aquios? I can't just return to the Diplo and say, 'Oh, hey Lieber. That whole thing I said, it wasn't true.' And if I did that, well… I just might be putting your life in danger."

Fayt shook his head. "Don't worry, you're smart. You'll think of a way to figure it out-."

"Beep beep beep beep!" both Maria and Fayt jumped. Maria's communicator started beeping. She had forgotten about it. Oops… She had also forgotten to call Mirage back to confirm to her that Fayt was fine. She quickly ran to the round table and picked it up then quickly answered it.

"U-um, yes? Hello?"

"_Maria? __It's Mirage."_

"Oh, hello Mirage! Ah, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Fayt is ok now though." Maria motioned for Fayt to come over to her. Fayt waved into the communicator and sent Mirage a smile.

"_Ah, hello Fayt. I'm glad to see you're okay. But anyways… where are you guys now? Will you be back soon?"_

Maria rubbed her eye with her free hand then said. "Well, um, you see. We're still in Arias. We'll be heading back tomorrow but it'll still take about two days to get to the transporter… can the crew wait that long?"

Mirage nodded. "_Yes, but we all want to see you two get back safely. Cliff misses you guys too."_

Fayt, who was still nearby, said, "Awwhaha… how funny…" Maria elbowed him.

"_Oh and Fayt. I don't know why… but Nik says 'hi' too…"_ ((ofcourse not, I have not forgotten Nik))

Fayt grunted. Nik was still a partial enemy to him. Even if he did say 'hi'. "_Well, the bridge needs me. I'll talk to you two soon, okay?" _Fayt and Maria nodded. "_Bye."_

"Bye." They both said. Maria then put her communicator away.

Xxxx

On the Diplo, where Mirage had returned to the bridge… 

"So, they both ok?" Cliff asked.

"Yep. Fayt is up on his feet. They should be back soon." Mirage said.

"Ah, that's good to hear. But, uh… did you notice any differences? Y'know, any at all?"

Mirage sighed then shook her head. "None that I could point out. But, everything has to be going well, right? Just wait till they get back here, I know there'll be some differences."

"Yeah… I should hope so."

Lieber, who was nearby, overheard they're conversation. _Differences?** What **differences? Was all that that Maria had told me… a lie? Nonsense! And if it is, I will have Fayt's head hanging on my bedroom wall. _He let out an evil laugh, which received confused looks from passing crewmembers. Now, let's bring in some other forgotten characters…

Sophia wandered aimlessly around the Diplo. Without Fayt, there was no one to pester. Without Maria, there was no one to give dirty looks to. Mirage was too busy to talk to, and Cliff, well, he was just some dumb blonde. BUT, I say she's _dumber _then he is. But, if you ask me, they both seem to have the same intellectual level of a cat. Wait, that's giving them _way _too much credit. Perhaps… the intellectual level of… a bird. Face it, Cliff acts all tough, but was he really all that smart. _Sure_, he founded Quark, but lost his position of Captain to a teenage girl. Okay, how did this subject get from Sophia to Maria? Back to the idiot brunette: She walked into her room and fell down flat face onto her bed.

"Ugh! I'm bored! Bored bored bored _bored bored_ **BORED**!" She yelled out into her pillow. Lancar, who was walking by, stopped by her door.

"Could you shut it up? You don't know how annoyin' your voice is. Everyone else agrees, and polls rarely ever lie." Sophia lifter her head from the pillow then turned it toward Lancar.

"Poll, what poll?" she said.

Lancar leaned against the inside of the room. "The poll we took. The question was: Do you feel like stuffing a dirty sock into Sophia's mouth to shut her annoying voice up? The answers with the most votes were: Hell yeah, every time she talks. And the other: Not just a dirty sock, but along with a hippo! I chose the second one, heh. So, if you like that pretty (not) little face, then I suggest you bring your decibel count down, along with that high pitched squeak that you call a voice, of yours." Lancar then walked away before he had to hear her again. Sophia sat up then puffed her cheeks.

"What! A poll! Argh! I don't sound like a squeak toy! What's wrong with my voice!" Another passing crewmember stopped by her door then said harshly.

"Everything is wrong with it." She then quickly strolled away. Sophia pouted as a vein in her head started pulsing. Yes, Sophia, it's true. We all despise that wretched voice of yours. Especially when you complain. So, to save us all the trouble of buying a hearing aid, shut the hell up. Now, if only she could actually hear me…

Sophia shook her head violently. Fine, if they didn't like her voice, then she just wouldn't talk. Wait a second, for her, that would be impossible. Well, okay… she tried thinking of another way to solve this. For a normal person, this wouldn't've been hard. But we're talking about Sophia. Her brain lacks what it needs to think properly. SO, after about five minutes, she finally thought of another solution. She could make her voice sound different when she talked! _Yeah, that's it! I'll just talk differently! _She practiced a couple of voices, till one of them sounded unlike hers. It also sounded creepy and halfway masculine. WOAH! Sophia sounding masculine! Anyways…

She left her room and walked up to a random crewmember. The crewmember gave Sophia a freaked-out look as she walked closer talking to herself. When she got to the member, she looked up then said in her new-and-non-improved voice, "Hey, wassup?" The crewmember backed off.

"…'the hell…?" they then walked away. Sophia went back to her regular voice when she yelled out.

"WHAT! GAR!" she stormed back into her room and decided to shut up. _Finally._

Xxxx

Nel pushed hair out of her face as she rubbed her head and sighed. She had just left Aquios castle and was heading to a new mission. She apologized to the queen for being absent, and quickly took on the mission given to her. Luckily, it was within city limits. She didn't feel like walking far anyways.

Missions were a good way to take her mind off things. _Pfsh, what the **hell **was I thinking! I'm so totally over Albel now. And thank Apris. It was just a **stupid **infatuation. I can't believe I let it get to me like that… _she shook her head as she continued to walk. _Honestly, I really don't care if I ever see him again… _she stopped in her tracks. Well, she was pretty sure she didn't care. But never seeing him ever _again _just didn't seem right. _And yet… maybe it was an illusion of some sort, but it seemed like he was actually opening up. He seemed so different._ She looked up at the sky with her eyes closed, then looked straight ahead and continued walking. _Ugh, quit thinking about him. This is getting irritating. Whatever, I gotta do that mission now. _She shook off her current thoughts and tried forgetting about them.

Albel was already in Peterny, buying supplies and about to head off to Arias. He didn't really know where Fayt and Maria were, nor did he care. He too, still had the other on his mind. What could he possibly do? He felt really bad, and he didn't know what to do. He didn't just expect to walk up to Nel, say 'sorry', in a grunt and rude way, then have everything return back to normal, could he? Of course not. Albel sighed again, for about that fifteenth time that morning. He left the Peterny gates, not knowing if he would ever return to them again any time soon.

For Albel, slaughtering useless maggots was a good way to take his mind off things. _What is **wrong** with me?_ He growled, clenching his fist. _That wench-… no, she's not a wench. That… Aquarian woman, won't leave my mind. Why though? Argh, it can't be… **no way.** Pfft, ofcourse not. That was just some damned infatuation of some sort. Or maybe pity… but why the hell would I show any pity toward **anyone **in the first place! However I look at this, it leads back to how I **feel.** _Albel shivered. Just thinking about how he… _felt_… was nauseating. Albel always looked at himself as a person who didn't receive, show, or have any feelings. Just a crazy mad-man that loved to kill, or more of a failure… Most likely, the only time he showed any form of feelings was the death of his father. The mention of his father's name, Glou, always brought back painful memories. It was his fault his dad died, his entire fault… atleast, that's what he thought. _If I hadn't been so weak-. _He swung his sword into a tree nearby, sending a deep gash into its trunk. He quickly turned his head in alert to see a monster. _Oh, so now the monsters finally decide to appear? _He dropped all his current thoughts to finish off this idiot monster, of who was challenging his power.

Xxxx

Maria and Fayt were once again taking a walk around the town. The walk would've been more enjoyable if the town wasn't so beaten up. But, luckily, work was already being done on nearby buildings. It was good to see the little village being repaired. The attacks from Airyglyph took its toll on the country. Good thing they weren't still at pointless war. Maria wore a black skirt as usual, with black tights, and a dark gray sweater. Fayt work a long sleeve black shirt overlapped by a gray T-shirt, and black pants. These types of clothes were good to wear out on a cold day. They were walking arm-in-arm, talking about whatever came to their minds. One topic they dwelled on the longest, was what idiots Lieber and Sophia were.

"I wonder where Albel is…" Fayt said. Maria sighed.

"Yeah, I wonder too. The last time we saw him… he just walked away. We haven't seen Nel in a while either."

"I wonder what's going on-." Both stopped in their tracks by the East exit of Arias as they saw a certain warrior walk into the river front village. "Albel!" they ran toward him as Albel turned around. His eyes slightly widened, but then he only growled bluntly.

"Why, if it isn't the two maggots. What're you doing here? I thought you both left already." Albel said, resting his claw on the end of the hilt of his sword.

Maria said, "Well, Fayt got injured and we had to stay here a few days. We'll be leaving tomorrow though." She crossed her arms, as the two blue-heads looked at Albel.

Albel only heard that he had gotten injured. "Injured?"

"Yeah, on the back…" Fayt said shamefully. He had nothing to be ashamed of, really. He saved Maria, after all. "But I'm okay now. No need to worry."

"Bah, who said I was worried, fool?" Albel closed his eyes as he stuck his nose in the air. "Well, I didn't expect to see you here, so I'll just be going now."

Maria walked closer to Albel. "Wait! Don't go so soon." Albel stopped and Fayt followed Maria. "We were both wondering… where's Nel?" Albel froze. He lowered his head and clenched his fists.

"Why do you worms want to know?"

Fayt walked ahead of Maria and nervously said, "We were just wondering. We haven't seen her in a whi-"

"And how do you think I know?" Albel snapped back in reply. "Even if I knew, it wouldn't matter. But wherever she is, I'm sure she's fine." He turned away and started walking. Maria reached out her hand and was about to say something, but she put it back by her side and sighed. Arguing with him was useless. She then turned toward Fayt and set her head on his chest.

She said, in muffled words, "So, what do we do now?" Albel took one last glance at Fayt and Maria before narrowing his eyes then walked away.

"Who knows… maybe we can just buy some stuff for tomorrow. There's not much to do now anyways."

"Yeah…" at that, they both headed to one of the stores.

Xxxx

Nel was already done with her mission and was heading back to the castle. To her, 'a mission a day keeps annoying thoughts away' was the saying that was best used for her. Even so, her thoughts would still stray to places unwanted. She had to have something else on her mind. Anything… As she tried thinking of something else to occupy her mind, she stopped in her tracks. "Clair…" she hadn't seen Clair in over a week. Usually, she would've returned home by then. But, alas, Albel had stopped her from doing so. _Grr… Albel…_ There she goes again. Her thoughts were being interrupted by Albel again. She clenched her fists then looked up and yelled at the top of her voice, "_He can just screw it all!" _Nearby people gave Nel confused and shocked looks. But she didn't care. Yelling out her thoughts felt better then to keep them bottled up. But maybe, she shouldn't run away from her problems… but what was her problem, anyways? How could she face it? For now, the best to do was to runaway from it, but not for long. Just as Clair, she too, missed the other Crimson Blade. But not enough to return home sooner. She wondered how Clair felt… _She probably misses me a lot. I'm sorry Clair. So sorry… I will be coming back soon for a visit though. I promise._ She sighed then stood thinking. She wasn't really thinking about anything, really… what to do now? Should she just leave for Arias right now? It would make Clair happier… Nel nodded then decided to forget the castle and depart for Arias.

Xxxx

Sophia was still having troubling dealing with the fact that everyone hates her voice. Wait a second, did Fayt think the same thing? Fayt, her only long time friend? Well, Fayt didn't really care much for her, but she didn't know that. A fear struck her. _Does Fayt hate my voice too? And he hasn't told me for so long! I have to know! _She grabbed her communicator and immediately called Fayt. This was important business!

In an Arias shop, Fayt pulled out his communicator, but only moaned when he saw Sophia. And just when he thought he'd have a break from her. "_Faaayt!" _Fayt felt his ear pulse.

"What!" he didn't even hold back from yelling at her.

"_Fayt. Do you think my voice is annoying!" _She said, biting her lip. Fayt never expected her to ask that. If he answered truthfully, he'd be one-piece-of-dead-Earthling-boy.

"Why are you asking?" he said, trying to resist from yelling out, 'YES! I HATE YOUR VOICE!'

"_Because Lonecar, or whatever his name was, said that the crew took a poll, and that everyone thinks my voice is annoying! You don't think that, do you? If you do, how dare you hide it from me for so long! We're friends from childhood Fayt! Are you hiding something from me! TELL ME!" _Fayt cringed from the sound of Sophia's voice again. Oh man, what would he do. He thought up of an excuse to get away from the communicator to think.

"Or er, um, hold on okay? Maria needs my opinion on what weapon to buy." He set the communicator down and quickly tried to think of what to say. Tell the truth and be relieved for telling the truth and dying, or lie and never tell Sophia how much he hated her voice and be mad at himself for not telling her? He decided. He picked the communicator back up and then closed his eyes and said, "Well, Sophia, honestly. I hate your voice. The sound of it makes me wanna puke. Every time I hear you talk, I have to hold back the urge to stuff you in a casket and throw it into the sea. Either that or rip your vocal cords out. Your voice sounds like an elephant sat on a squeaky toy, then let out a loud-ass-wet-long-fart to murder my ears. And, yeah, I've been keeping that from you for ages. I just didn't wanna tell you or your voice would become even **more **irritating then it already is. But atleast your parents can stand it. I don't see how, but… that's not the point. The point is. Leave me the hell alone and shut the hell up, okay? Now if you don't mind…" Fayt opened up his eyes but stood shocked when he noticed Sophia wasn't even there. She appeared about ten seconds later.

"_Huh, were you saying something, Fayt? I went to go get a snack. I didn't think you'd be back so soon… oh wait, what did I ask you again? Um… oh yeah! Do you hate my voice or not!" _Fayt was completely shocked to find that all he had just said didn't even enter Sophia's ears. And worst of all, that had taken all his guts to say!

_Dammit! _He sighed then said, "No, your voice is fine. Don't worry about it, okay?" Sophia smiled and perked up.

"_Good! Well, see you soon!" _She then put her communicator away as Fayt did the same. Maria, who was watching the whole thing, also stood shocked.

"You mean…" she started to say, "that she didn't hear _any _of that!" Fayt sighed.

"Yep, exactly before that. Man, I don't think I can ever build up enough courage to do that again…"

"Oh, well that just sucks. Super sucks. I can't believe that! I would probably say that, but I think that last argument we had was enough…" she was right. The last argument between her and Sophia was enough. If she were to say that to the brunette, all hell would break loose. But hell doesn't seem to show how hellish it would be… but what else would! Because if an argument like that would start between Maria and Sophia then, well, it'd just be chaotic… okay, so anyways, where was I? Oh yeah.

"Well, I guess I'm stuck listening to her for now…" both of the 19-year-olds sighed.

"Well, I think we've bought what we need now. There wasn't much to buy. I feel like leaving now, but we still need some rest. And leaving early is better anyways." Maria said. Fayt nodded in agreement.

"I know. But… one more day isn't too long. We should bet back to the Diplo in no time."

Maria shifted the bag of items from her shoulder to her wrist. "Yeah. Well, let's get going now." She walked out of the shop, quickly joined by Fayt. They walked back into the all too familiar little mansion and went up to the guest room. When they walked in, Maria set down the items on a nearby table. "So… what now? It's still too early to sleep and there's nothing else to really do…"

Fayt looked around the room. That's right, there was a chess board there… "Oh yeah, I forgot there was a chess board here…" Maria looked toward the chess board also.

"That's true… I guess we could play that. I haven't played much chess though."

"Me neither. But, hey, if we've got nothing else to do, let's just leave it at that. So, how about a game of chess?" Fayt said, putting his hands behind his head.

Maria nodded then smiled. "Okay. But to make it more interesting… how about we bet?"

"You mean like, a real bet?" to be honest, Fayt had never really betted before. He didn't want to admit this, for some reason of which he didn't know… but if he could win his first actual bet, it'd be pretty cool.

"Ofcourse, what else would I mean?" Maria slightly giggled at Fayt's question.

"Um, well, okay… but do we gotta bet money? Can we do something else?"

Maria tilted her head. "Well… bets usually involve money. Okay, instead, how about we make some kind of deal slash challenge? Does that sound better?"

Fayt nodded. "Okay. Sounds good to me."

"Good. Now, if _you _loose, you have to…" Maria paused to think. What could she make Fayt do? There wasn't really anything she wanted him to do. Or, instead of doing something, maybe give her something… but what! She was getting frustrated now. She couldn't think of anything good, and Fayt was starting to tap his foot on the floor. She sighed as she tried thinking some more. "Um…" she said. "How about you go first…?" Fayt nodded then began to think.

_Lessee… what can it be? Something good, something that would make her try not to lose… _he went through some crazy ideas before his eyes landed on Maria. _That's perfect… _"If you lose, I get to kiss you, o_n the lips._" Maria's cheeks reddened brightly. A satisfied smile plastered itself across Fayt's lips.

"W-wha…?" Maria said nervously.

"Haha, don't worry! I'm just kidding. Well, besides that, I've got nothing else." Fayt said. Maria sighed, but she didn't know if it was a sigh of relief or disappointment. Either way, her cheeks still wouldn't go back to normal skin color. "Okay, let's make it easy. Whoever loses has to eat a discordant desert, 'kay?" Maria nodded, trying to hide her face from Fayt. She could still feel her cheeks burning.

So, the two began the game of chess, each trying their best not to lose. Because, as we can guess, discordant deserts would taste terribly **nasty. **

Xxxx

**Author's Notes:** Finally! I have finished this chapter, but I am still unsure if it is good. There are probably alotta mistakes, but I will go back and fix them later, so please don't mind them for now. I hope that was good, I really tried my best to think of ideas. Okay, now in the next chapter, Fayt and Maria will _finally _get kidnapped ((I make that sound as though it were a good thing)) and Nel and Albel will meet again. Please oh please forgive me for not updating sooner. If you want the next chapter soon, which I'm sure all of you do, then review please! If you yell at me in the review to put my butt into gear, then I will update sooner.


	9. Federation's Request

Xxxx

Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 rightfully belongs to its creator, Tri-Ace. I don't own it.

**A/N: **Thank you to everyone who reviewed and also to everyone who yelled at me! For future reference, if you wanna see chapters up sooner, YELL AT ME TO PUT MY BUTT INTO GEAR. It really helps. I'll even yell at myself. ((sigh)) Hmm… I had to think out some stuff before I could continue with the story, but now I have it in my head now. So, now, for the climactic part in my story, the part I kinda fergot about! ((nervous laugh))

**i love fayt: **thanks so much! I'm really glad you like it. Yeah, FaytxMaria is so cute!

**utopia: **I listened to your suggestions. I don't have any in-between notes in this chapterand there's not bashing either. Thank you for the suggestions.

**Exalted Knight Of Darkness: **Yeah, stupid school…

**Alouete: **I would really like Nel to end up with Clair too… I've really only got a layout for AlNel in this story though. But I should be making a NelClair only fic though. Who knows how soon or long…

**Seph: **Maria is my fave SO3 character, and I super love FaytxMaria too! (cries) I've still yet to see that ending. I attempted too using the PA faq, but I screwed up on the last one! Gawd, I was so sad and mad and hysterical at the same time when I figured out I didn't get it, and right after I'm done watching the failed endings, that file gets corrupted! It so wasn't fair. That was my best file yet it ends up getting corrupt! I ended up getting the solo ending… grr… Lol, I forgot that they'd get kidnapped too! I hoped so also, but I wanted to save the kiss for later. Heehee.

**Moric:** I'm so sorry, please forgive me…

**Fayt Linegod:** thanks so much, Fayt! Lol, you're welcome! Heehee, thanks a whole bunch!

**Astral Slayer Asuka:** I can't stand Sophia. Sadly, there isn't a good amount of FeiMari on the net…

Xxxx

**_Chapter 9:_** Federation's Request

Xxxx

After a long game of chess of trying not to lose, Fayt ends up losing. Just his luck. He painfully swallows the discordant dessert with tears forming at his eyes. He managed to swallow it all, but not without managing a few coughs. He looked up from the table in the guest room. "Agh… you beat me fair and square…" Maria smiled. Fayt smiled back. Whenever Maria smiled, he couldn't help but smile too. She had such a sweet, cute smile… Why did he feel this way, could it possibly be… love? Maria tilted her head as Fayt stared at her lost in thought.

"Um… Fayt? Is something the matter?" Fayt snapped out of his thoughts then blushed.

"Oh, er, sorry about that… I guess I just got kinda lost there for a second…" he apologized.

"Aw, it's ok, Fayt. Hmm… it's getting dark outside. We should be getting to bed now. We'll leave early tomorrow, kay?" she got up from her seat.

Fayt got up too. "Yeah. I really can't wait to see Mirage, Cliff, and the others. Well, besides Lieber… I'm afraid of what he'll do when we get back."

"Yeah… I feel kind of sorry for him, though, kinda, well, sort of, not really… okay, I just don't wanna break his heart, that's all. Ack, I'm just confusing myself here…" Maria said. Fayt chuckled.

"Haha." Maria smiled as she rubbed the back of her head bashfully. A cool chill blew in from outside. Maria shivered then walked over to the window. "Wow, it looks like it's going to be cold tonight…"Fayt walked over to her then wrapped his arms around her.

"You won't have to worry. If you get cold, I'll keep you warm…" Fayt said. Maria turned around and looked at Fayt then smiled affectionately.

"Oh, Fayt…" she then buried her face into his chest. Fayt could feel a smile form on her lips. "Thanks…" She slowly pulled away from him then turned back around to close the window. The room became warmer as soon as she closed the window. The idea of sleeping under those warm covers sure felt nice right now… she yawned then said good-night to Fayt and laid down in her bed.

Xxxx

Both Fayt and Maria awoke early and got ready to leave. Maria slipped on her armor, which felt a bit heavy since she hadn't worn it in a couple of days. Fayt, too, felt the armor weigh him down.

Once they were ready, Maria looked out the window of the room and sighed. "Well… let's go say goodbye." Fayt nodded then they both left the room. They strolled down the stairs then walked into the conference room. Fayt saw Clair sitting down, doing some paper work.

"Hello Clair." He greeted. Clair looked up from her paperwork, slightly startled, then lowered her glasses and stood up.

"Oh hello there Fayt and Maria. I wasn't expecting you two down here at least another forty-five minutes." She stated. "So, I assume you'll be leaving shortly?" she questioned them.

Maria nodded, "Yes, we're on our way back now. We just wanted to say goodbye to you first."

"So you're feeling better Fayt? That's good. I couldn't bear to see you sick. Well, I hope to see you soon." She hugged Fayt goodbye then turned to face Maria. "And Maria…" Maria stopped her words by hugging her, then lightly saying into her ear,

"I know Nel will be back soon. She's too good of a person to stay away from you for to long…" she pulled away and walked over to Fayt and stood by his side. Clair blinked once absentmindedly, than smiled.

"Thanks… I know she will." She sighed. "Anyways, you two should be going now. I hope to see you soon, good-bye."

"Bye." Maria and Fayt said then walked out of the room and headed outside. Just as they were exiting the Eastern gates to Palmira Plains, they saw a familiar red-head approaching. "Nel!" they ran toward her, startling her by a bit.

Nel looked at both teens. "H-huh…? Oh, Fayt, Maria. I thought you two had already headed back. Hmm… I haven't seen you guys since when you first arrived to fulfill the request."

"Yeah, I know. We were hoping to see you before we left. I guess it's good timing." Fayt said. Nel slowly looked from Fayt to Maria.

_I wonder what's been going on. Did my failed attempts even work? Or did I put myself through that for freakin nothing? _She sighed.

Maria then remembered that long forgotten scene back in the woods near Peterny. Albel had mentioned something, some sort of fight or whatever, going on between him and Nel. She's been wondering about this too. Being nosy was probably just Maria's nature, so she couldn't help but ask. "Um… I'm not trying to be nosy or anything…" yeah right. "But… did something happen between you and Albel in the Duggus Forest?" Nel held her breath in her shock. _Oops…_ _I shouldn't have asked…_

_Oh dear Apris. I tried to forget that… I can't answer her…_ "…" Nel remained quiet. "I… I don't really feel like explaining it." She frowned.

Maria rubbed the back of her head in apology. "Oh, no, it's ok! Please, don't trouble yourself. You don't have to tell me anything!" Fayt sighed.

"Ma-ri-**a!" **he yelled then whispered in her ear harshly, "Don't be so nosy! You've already upset Clair. Don't do it to Nel too!" Maria frowned.

"I'm sorry…" she apologized quietly. Fayt looked down at her. He couldn't stay angry at her, she just liked helping.

"It's ok. It's not like you meant to." Nel watched them talk to each other, trying to find any hints of change. She then remembered why she was there in the first place.

"Um, you guys, I should get going now. Sorry to be off in a rush. I hope to see both of you soon, though." She said. Maria and Fayt stopped talking and turned toward Nel.

"O-okay. Well, it was good seeing you again." Maria said.

"Yeah, same here." Fayt stated.

"Good bye." Nel said her farewells then walked to the Arias mansion. Fayt and Maria then began to head to Peterny.

Xxxx

Nel slowly walked into the building, looking around it and taking in its familiar views. She headed to the conference room and stopped at the door. Then, she slowly pushed it open to a small crack where she stuck her head in. "May I come in?" Clair turned around to face the door.

"Nel!" Clair exclaimed as she walked quickly toward Nel. She hugged Nel tightly then said, "Oh, Nel… you've been gone for so long…" Nel returned the hug and sighed.

"I know… I'm so sorry, Clair. It's just… I was helping with something…" she mumbled then pulled away.

Clair set a hand to her chin. "Oh… you mean the woman, Mirage's request? She asked me to help too." Nel looked up from her previous sulking.

"You too?" she asked.

"Yeah. There wasn't really any need for me though. I couldn't do much… Fayt and Maria seemed to be fine off by themselves. Well, how did you do on the request? Would you mind telling me?" Clair said. "You've been gone so long, I'm just curious as to what happened." Nel nodded.

"Well…" she began. "It didn't go quite as I planned." She stated.

"Then it went bad?" Clair wondered aloud.

"No, it's not that. It went well, there were just some… '_unexpected' _events." She said.

Clair's eyebrows turned downward in a slight sign on confusion. "Unexpected, you say…? My, whatever do you mean? What happened? Please, tell me Nel. Whatever has happened, I would really like to know." Nel sighed. She's known Clair for so long, she couldn't hide anything from the other woman. Nel motioned Clair to sit down.

She sighed. "It's a long story, but since you want to know, I shall tell you." She closed her eyes in thought. "Where to begin…"

Xxxx

Albel roamed around in the Bequerel Mountain Path, destroying random enemies. Snow was still falling in the mountains, making the area cold. The snow floated down gently across Albel's dark hair. Amazingly, even in such freezing weather, the Bequerel Mountain Path was a good place to think. Just sit at the edge of a ridge and close your eyes and think. This, Albel decided, is what he should do to clear his thoughts.

The wind started to pick up, blowing Albel's two wrapped strands of hair, which I simply refer to as 'rat tails'. So, his rat tails swayed as he was deep in though with his eyelids closed. There were always a lot of things to think about. A human's mind can switch from one thought to another, whether they be good, or bad thoughts. Albel, in this case, just dwelled on 'what to do' thoughts. He's been pretty good at avoiding thoughts of Nel, so far. Oh, wait a second, that thought just involved Nel…

_Argh, that Nel… it's all her fault. _Albel didn't even know what he was blaming her for, but he just felt like blaming her. _I'm starting to dislike her, but wait! I've always disliked her. Feh, well, I guess I'm just disliking her more, then. _Albel brought one of his knees up and rested his forehead on it. _Damn it all…_

Xxxx

Meanwhile, Fayt and Maria were traveling to Peterny without any hassles. Just about every enemy on the road was extinguished, so there weren't many delays to be sought over. But, it was boring just walking. Maybe they could start a conversation. Or maybe not…

Just then, a kid's voice was heard from a nearby group of trees. "**_H-Heeelp_**! Anybody!" Fayt and Maria stopped.

"It sounds like someone's in trouble!" Fayt said. Him and Maria started to run toward the source of the call for help. They stopped when they saw a wolf jumping up and snapping at a short person in a tree. _Wait a second… that's not just any kid… _Fayt thought. As they slowly neared closer, both immediately recognized the child in distress.

Roger looked from his spot on the tree. He clung onto it for dear life, trying not to fall into the jaws of the 'annoying-Menodix eating' wolf. He cried out, "Oh, boy am I glad to see ya guys! You see, I'm in a bit of a situation-." He pulled himself back up higher then continued talking, "I thought I was a goner for sure! I thought no one would hear me!" he started to slip but stopped and crawled higher on the old tree. "Can you please help me!" Maria lowered her eyelids from being fed-up with Roger's antics, but she couldn't just let him die. She aimed her gun at the wolf and pulled the trigger. The wolf yelped then ran away incredibly fast. Roger slid down from the tree, glad to be down from it.

Fayt crossed his arms. "Why couldn't you have fought it off? You _did _say that you were a man, didn't you?" Fayt taunted as Roger frowned.

"I-I… Well, you see what happened… I _was _gonna fight it, but just as I was about to er… attack, yeah! That's it, attack, I tripped and dropped my ax then I hadda run up in the tree to get away from the wolf!" Maria and Fayt both sighed. They could tell he was fibbing.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. C'mon Fayt." Maria said as she turned around and continued to Peterny. Roger rubbed his head.

"U-um… thanks! I guess…" Roger turned in the opposite direction and ran toward the direction of his recently-dropped ax. Just as he picked it up, he saw a bright line shoot from a bush toward Fayt and Maria. He screeched then jumped into a nearby bush to hide. He watched what was going on from the safety of his little bush.

Maria swiftly dodged the bullet and looked toward the direction of which it was fired. Fayt readied his sword. "What the hell!" Maria raised her gun, readied to fire if necessary.

"That was no ordinary gun-shot." Maria pointed out. Both her and Fayt nervously watched as two men in uniform emerged from the shadows. "The Federation!" she yelled. Fayt's arm muscles stiffened as he gripped onto the hilt of his sword tighter.

"Fayt Leingod, I presume…" one of the men said. He had dirty blonde hair and was dressed in a white jacket with gold trimming, a black shirt collar stuck out at the top of the jacket along with it's sleeves, and gray pants. The other man, slightly shorter with silver hair, was wearing the same clothes, but with a dark gray jacket instead. Fayt stood up straight but still held onto his sword tightly.

"What if I say I am? What're you gonna do about it?" Fayt said angrily. He didn't appreciate the fact that he just had a shot fired at him and Maria.

"Behave properly boy or we will have to result in some more violence. And you don't want that, now do you?" the man with the silver hair said. He had a sleek voice. Fayt growled under his breath. Maria became slightly nervous of the presence of the two men. What did they want?

Fayt remained quiet. He wasn't sure if he could tell these men that he was Fayt. They probably already knew he was, but with these types of people, they just like to turn things into unnecessary violence. Fayt grunted but then replied. "Yeah… what of it?"

"Seems we have a bit of an attitude here, now do we? No matter, I don't care how you act, as long as I get you too cooperate, by all means necessary." The blonde said. His voice was slightly rougher, but still had an eerie softness to it.

Fayt grunted. "Ugh, who are you anyway!"

The blonde replied. "Why, I am Krenel, and this here is Doireter." Krenel gestured his hand toward the other man.

Maria said quiet enough as to that Doireter and Krenel didn't hear, "I don't like the looks of these guys, Fayt…" Fayt nodded his head so that it was barely noticed. Roger, who was still watching from the bushes, was shaking. Krenel and Doireter were standing near his bush. He was taking in every word and emotions on everyone's faces. He could tell this would be bad.

"Now, we expect you to hand yourself over without any hassle Fayt, or we will be forced to terrible measures…" Doireter said the last word in such a scary manner, that it sent a chill up Roger's back.

"I demand to know what business you have with me!" Fayt yelled. He was becoming both angry and uneasy. Maria kept her gun raised. She could tell these people could attack any second just to get their way.

"Just Federation issues. We can use that gene of yours, which you attained by forbidden research being done on you. Now, come or we _will _shoot." Krenel spat. Fayt took a step back. His knuckles were white from clutching the sword so tightly, but he wasn't going down without a fight. Maria got ready to fire.

"No! You won't make me!"

"Fine then. Have it your way. Doireter, looks like these new guns will come of good use anyways." Krenel growled then raised his gun and shot it at Fayt and Maria. Maria and Fayt jumped opposite directions to avoid the shot. Fayt ran at Doireter and brought his sword down, but Doireter blocked it using the side of his gun.

"Heh, you think that's gonna work?" he said, pushing Fayt away. Maria aimed her gun and shot at Krenel, but he rolled out of the way. She started to run as a laser beam shot through her jacket sleeve.

"Ah!" Maria yelled as she fell to the floor on her knees. Luckily. The laser only grazed the skin of her arm, but there was still immense pain as some blood began to emerge. Fayt took another swing at Doireter, but cringed in pain and passed out as he took a hard blow to the stomach. The same happened to Maria before she had a chance to stand up and get away. Both teens lie out cold on the floor. Doireter and Krenel stood over them. Doireter smirked.

"That was easier then we thought… who's the girl though?"

Krenel crossed his arms. "Who knows, but she may be of some importance. Let's bring her along too. I'll get Leingod, you get the girl." Doireter nodded then did as he told. Roger couldn't believe it: Maria and Fayt were being kidnapped! He had to get help, and fast. He waited till the Federation workers were gone, then made a dash for Arias. He ran quickly with his ax in one hand, his helmet being held down by the other, and tail swishing around like crazy. He dashed frantically to Arias, and was soon there. He ran to the only place of which he knew he could get help, and that was the Arias mansion. He burst through the doors, startling some symbologists.

"Help! HELP!" He yelled out. Nel had just finished telling Clair what happened when she heard Roger. They both ran out to the hall.

"Roger!" Nel called. "What happened!" Roger tried speaking but his words came out quick and non-audible.

"F-Fayt! M-Maria! Th-they…! And these mean looking guys! There were guns shots with a bam and boom and and…!" Nel crouched down to Roger's eye level and held him by the shoulders.

"Roger! I can't understand a word you're saying! Quit stuttering!" Roger continued to jump as he tried to explain what happened.

"IgotchasedupatreebythismeanwolfthenMariaandFaytcamethentheseguyscameandtheyfought" he took a breath, "andandtheylostand…!" Nel sighed.

"STOP-!" Roger stopped his ramblings. "Now, in a calm and _slow _voice, please tell me what happened." Nel said rather annoyed.

Roger gulped. "Okay, well, I'll just skip the first part…" he took in a big breath then began to speak in words Nel and Clair could understand. "I bumped into Maria and Fayt back in the Palmira Plains, and just as I was walking away, some strange light shot at them, so I watched in secret as these two guys dressed in fancy clothes like Fayt and Maria came out and started talking about taking Fayt away. And one of the guys said something about 'Federation', I think, then they fought Fayt and Maria but then they both lost. After that, they got taken away by the Feder-whatever-you-call-it guys! Fayt and Maria've been **kidnapped!**" He said, starting to panic again.'

"WHAT!" Nel yelled out in disbelief. Clair stood just as shocked.

"This is terrible!" she cried out.

Roger nodded. "I know! We gotta find a way to save them!"

Xxxx

Albel decided to head back to Arias shortly to buy some more healing items. Just as he walked out of the shop, he saw Roger exit the mansion with Nel. _What's going on?_ He thought then hurried toward them.

Nel turned around to see Albel. She held her breath back but then quickly let it out and said, "A-Albel? What're you doing here? No, wait, there's no time for that." She started to walk away but then Albel's shout halted her.

"Stop there and tell me where the hell you're off to in such a goddamn rush!" Nel sighed in defeat then quickly explained to Albel what happened.

"Listen, we don't have much time. Roger here says that Fayt and Maria have just been kidnapped in Palmira Plains." She said. It felt awkward talking to him since the last scene.

"You mean that some bastards took them?" Albel asked.

"Well, ofcourse, what else would I mean? Kidnapped _does _have the word 'napped' in it." Nel snorted. Albel scowled.

"Ohoho… so now the Aquarian wench is gonna smart mouth me, huh?" Albel replied rudely. It's strange they're being so mean to eachother… it's probably because they still felt uneasy of what happened the last meeting. Name-calling seemed like the best way to handle things in such an awkward greeting as this…

"I'm not a wench, you chauvinistic ass!" Albel clenched his good fist.

"You're calling _me_ the ass, you worm? You're the 'I-can't-figure-out-my-damn-feelings-so-now-you're-confused-too' ass!" Albel snapped back in reply.

Nel huffed then crossed her arms. "Oh yeah! Well, atleast I'm not the 'I'm-gonna-chase-after-Fayt-since-I'm-a-jealous-school-girl' ass!" Roger was beginning to panic and anger.

"WILL YOU TWO QUIT FIGHTING! FAYT AND MARIA ARE IN TROUBLE!" he shouted out to the two taller people. Nel growled then turned around and started walking.

"If you're gonna help save them, you better quit with the name calling and hurry up and follow." She told Albel. Albel snorted in reply then began to follow along with Roger.

Xxxx

_Meanwhile… on the Diplo._

Mirage continued to contact Fayt's communicator, but no one was answering. Plus, she couldn't get a transmission wired to Maria's. She looked toward Cliff and frowned. "Cliff… I think they might be in trouble. I can't contact any of them…" Mirage said, becoming very worried.

Cliff rubbed his chin. He too was starting to worry. "This isn't good… this is **not **good."

The other Klausian tilted her eyebrows upward in worry. She turned around and started typing in things to have the words 'IDENTIFIED LIFEFORMS CANNOT BE FOUND' pop up on the screen. "Oh no, Cliff… I can't even pinpoint their location on Elicoor II. I don't like the looks of this." She said. Cliff patted her back.

"Ah... it should be ok…" truth be told, he didn't think it would be ok. _What could've happened to them_, he thought.

Mirage let out a long worried sigh. "I'm going to call one last time…" at that, she then tried to contact Fayt's communicator one last time.

_On Elicoor II._

The party of three ran to the Palmira Plains, following Roger to where he saw Maria and Fayt lose against the Federation workers. When they arrived, all they saw was a communicator. Nel knelt over and picked it up and just as she did so, it started to beep. Nel dropped it in surprise but then quickly picked it up and opened it. "He-hello…?" she said, unsure of how a communicator worked exactly, although she saw Fayt use it.

"_Hey, Cliff! I got someone!" _Nel heard a slightly familiar voice say. "_Ah, Nel! Are we so glad to see you! We were becoming worried, but… wait, where's Fayt and Maria?" _Mirage asked. Nel sighed. She explained to Mirage and Cliff what happened. "_Oh no, Cliff… we feared this would happen…"_

"_Dammit… well, Mirage, can you pinpoint their location? I don't care how long it takes, just as long as you find them. And you three," _Nel, Albel, and Roger listened, "_get to the Diplo ASAP. You know where the transporter is that leads to here, right?" _Nel and Albel nodded. Well, Roger did too, but he could barely be seen. "_Good. I'll need you guys here. You can help save Fayt and Maria. Got it?" _They all nodded again. Albel didn't appreciate taking orders from the 'blonde ape' though. Mirage took her turn to spoke.

"_And please, try to hurry. We want to save Fayt and Maria as soon as possible. I'm sure you guys want to also. Well, goodbye then." _Nel sighed then closed the communicator and put it away.

"Well, guys, let's get going. I can tell this is going to be tough." Nel said. They then headed to Peterny, to hopefully save Fayt and Maria, wherever they were…

Xxxx

**A/N: **Well, there it is, guys. I sure hope I updated this sooner then the last chapter. I'm sorry I became slow again, I just…okay, I have to be honest. I'm not going to blame school or anything else, I'm going to blame myself for the lateness of this chapter. I will have to give myself some discipline later. TOUGH discipline. I can't keep updating so late. Can you guys yell at me some more too? And I mean YELL. Type your whole comment in caps lock if you have to. And don't be afraid to use harsh words, or say something like "YOU BETTER HURRY THE (BEEP) UP AND UPDATE THE NEXT (BEEP)ING CHAPTER SOON GODDAMMIT". Now, I don't think any of you would actually type that, but you get the point, right? And make it clear that you would really _really _love to see the next chapter sooner. But no fear, I am back in my typing-mojo again, thankfully, and I really can't wait to see what happens, either! I already have some stuff planned out, unlike some of the past few chapters, so I should be typing much more frequently. I think the next whole event will be spread out over several chapters, and then that's where it will end. But hey, why am I thinking about the end? I should be thinking about now! I love all the reviews you guys have given me, they mean so much to me. I can't believe so many people like this story, it almost makes me want to cry… So please guys, please review. Reviews mean the absolute most to me…


	10. Feelings of Tension

Xxxx

Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 is not owned by me. It belongs to Tri-Ace and Squeenix, but mostly Tri-Ace since they created it.

**A/N:** Wow, Chapter 10… I started typing this chapter the same day I finished the last one, and that's usually a good thing! Yayz! Ahem. So, anyways… some of you may be wondering if Albel and Nel will get together at all, considering the name-calling scene in the last chapter. Hm, well… I'm not telling! Nope! I think it'll be fun to keep you guys guessing and making assumptions when reading my story! Hehehe! Muwahaha! BUWAHHAAAAA! Er… yes, it seems I have some extra energy for some reason, besides the fact I'm typing this very sentence at 7:41 PM… I guess I just have a sudden burst of excitement… maybe it's 'cause I'm starting to like how this is turning out and I want to know what happens. Yeah, I should already know but… my stories have a mind of their own. Okay, now, I need to shut up since you guys probably want to know what's gonna happen to Fayt and Maria, right? Well, I'm shutting uuuup…… now!

**Kitsurumenokitsune: **Haha, I guess it'll do. Well, here's the chapter!

**Maxmagnus20019: **Hehehe, you really like it that much? Alright! Thanks!

**asga: **Heehee, yep, FaytxMaria forever. Lol, alright! Keep up with the yelling!

**Deathblade Prime: **Hm, now, when you say I made mistakes, do you mean in the character's dialogue? Because, if I can remember correctly, the characters used "ferget" quite often. Unless it wasn't in dialogue? If so, I apologize. I just use it in actual speech quite often… It makes my grammar seem bad, doesn't it? Also, thank you very much for the review.

**Seph:** Yeppers, sure did! Oh, and if you're reading this, then you must've gotten my email right?

Xxxx

Chapter 10: Feelings of Tension

Xxxx

So, the party of three fought their way to Peterny. Some small amounts of enemies started appearing again, but nothing too difficult to defeat. Everyone remained quiet. Albel sighed. He felt that part of Nel's silence was his fault. He couldn't do anything to settle that, though.

Nel took another glance at Albel, but quickly turned her head the other way. She didn't like being so close to Albel, of whom she was pretty sure she disliked again. Honestly, she didn't know. It only confused her, and she couldn't stand that. She felt terrible for leaving Clair so suddenly again like that, but she just had to save Fayt and Maria, and Clair understood that. Nel just hoped she didn't hurt Clair too much… she had to stay with her longer after she saves Fayt and Maria.

"Nel…" Albel said, breaking the silence. Nel turned her head toward him, as so did Roger. "Listen…"

Nel stuck her nose in the air then grunted. "I don't want to listen and I won't."

"Oh grow up you idiot! Just listen!" Nel sent him a death glare but decided to listen. "I… I don't really wanna say it but…"

"Then don't talk-."

"Shut up woman!" Albel snapped at her before continuing. "I… I apologize for what happened in Aquios. I just… I didn't know how to handle the situation. I'm sorry I hurt you. I was, and still am, just as confused as you are…" Nel's head lowered in remembrance of Aquios as it came back into her mind.

"Albel… I can't believe… I can't believe you just apologized! What the hell? Am I in the Twilight Zone or something!" Nel said. It's true, her, along with Roger couldn't believe he just apologized. Even still… "but… I accept your apology. I should apologize too. I can't believe I let my feelings take over like that, if they were even true feelings… I don't know what happened…" Roger was now becoming curious as to what happened between them.

He decided to butt in, being the nosy little kid he is. "What happened, what happened?" he jumped up and down.

Albel snorted. "Bah, I'm not telling you."

"Aw c'mon! Tell me what happened! I wanna know what happened! Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Albel growled then raised his claw to Roger's throat.

"You better shut the hell up you worthless little maggot or else I'll slice your head off your shoulders and feed it to a wolf. I won't tell you anything so don't go asking again, got it?" Roger gulped.

"Ye-yes…"

"Good." Roger ran ahead of Nel and Albel. They were soon approaching the Peterny gates. Albel sighed. "So, maggot… I guess we'll just act like nothing happened?" he asked Nel.

Nel nodded. "Yep, and so I dislike you more then Magistrate Lasselle."

"Yeah? Well I dislike you more then that **worm**, Vox." Albel said rather rudely.

"Then it's settled, jackass. We'll act as though that little event never happened."

"I'm fine with that, wench." Roger turned around as he saw Albel and Nel stop talking to eachother.

They've got some serious issues… 

Xxxx

All three entered Peterny and continued to walk through it toward the North gates. A lot of the same, familiar people were walking around since the town usually never changed. "Perhaps we should buy some more supplies before heading off." Nel gestured. Roger and Albel agreed.

"Yeah, who knows what we'll run in ta while savin' Fayt n' Maria." Roger said.

"Hmph, looks like your suggestions are actually useful, _Nel_. Although, I would've brought that up anyways." Albel said.

Nel scowled. "How strange, _Albel_… I never knew you could be such a_** liar**!"_ they than sent each other death glares again. Roger sighed.

"Will. You. Stop. Fighting!" Roger yelled out at them. "Can't ya two just set aside whatever it is that makes you argue so much, and work together to save Fayt and Maria! What's more important! Them, or arguing like a big bunch of lummoxes?" Nel and Albel rubbed the backs of their heads. Roger was right, they were acting very immature. They needed to focus on rescuing Fayt and Maria, not arguing about every single little thing. "I think ya guys should apologize to eachother…" Roger said, although he wasn't sure they would listen to him on the last sentence.

Albel said gruffly, "S'rry…"

"Same here…" Nel mumbled.

Roger smiled. "Good! Now, why don't you two just hug to settle thi-."

"NO!" both of the older people said synchronously. Roger jumped then gave up.

"Fine, **fine**! Forget I even said anything!" he then turned back around and headed to one of the stands that sold restoring berries and fresh sages. They bought some more supplies then soon left Peterny to go to the transporter in the Irisa Fields.

Xxxx

Maria slowly began to wake and lifted her head. Wow, her head hurt… badly. It still hurt too much to open her eyes or lift her head up all the way, so she laid it back down. But wait… she was resting her head on something soft and warm… she warily turned her head to the right to see a human shoulder. Not just any human's, though… "Fayt…?" Fayt was still resting, but he soon began to stir not too long after. "… Fayt, where are we…?" Fayt shook his head to clear it then slowly looked around the space they were in.

"Looks like a cell…" he said. He didn't mean one of those stone jail cells, but more of a futuristic, Star Ocean, one. You can imagine it, right? He looked around some more before saying, "Wait a second… why're we here? What happened?" Maria, who was still in a daze, replied.

"Oh no, Fayt. Didn't those federation people fight us? We must've lost! That would explain the enclosed cell…" she sighed.

Fayt shook his head in disbelief. "Man, I can't believe this… what're we gonna do? We don't even know where we are!" he clenched his fists. He was currently leaning against the corner of the cell wall facing the ethereal bars that were keeping them from escaping, with Maria sitting right by him. "Well, we're bound to get help… I hope. Are you hurt?" he stated then asked.

Maria looked up at him. "I don't feel all too well… that federation guy hit me real hard…" she set her head back on Fayt's shoulder and held on tightly to his arm. "We'll have to think of a way to get out of here."

Fayt turned slightly to wrap his arms around Maria. "They hit me pretty hard too… yeah, we gotta think of a way to get out of here, as soon as my head stops hurting." He said sleepily.

The other sighed, "Could you try your communicator?" she questioned.

The blue-haired boy rubbed his head and looked around and checked for his communicator. It wasn't anywhere to be found… "Damn… those federation bastards must've taken it… what about yours?" Maria sat and thought before she remembered.

"Oh yeah… I remember hiding it down my armor when the fed guys appeared!" Maria said gladly.

"U-um…" Fayt managed to croak before he tried to turn his eyes in the other direction bashfully while Maria dug her hand down her chest armor.

"Got it!" she pushed in some buttons to have a tracking screen appear. "I'm gonna try and contact the Diplo…" they both sat quietly as Maria attempted to contact it. "Crap… I can't get a hold of them… there must be something blocking waves being sent to and received here." She sighed then put the communicator in a regular pocket. "I guess we'll just have to think up of something for now." Fayt nodded. "But in the meanwhile, let's wait for the pain to go away. It's killer." Maria stood up and headed over to the only bed in the cell, and thank goodness it was a nice clean bed. Because, remember… this is a future jail cell….

Fayt stood up and looked around the room. "Erm… there doesn't seem to be another bed."

"We can share the bed, you know… it's big enough for the both of us." Maria said shyly. It's not like she never shared a bed with Fayt before, though. But it still felt awkward… maybe because she felt feelings for Fayt, and being so close to him without admitting her feelings just turns things… weird. She still wasn't sure that was true and wasn't going to admit anything till she _was_ sure. She yawned then sat down on the bed and removed her shoes. Fayt walked over and sat down by her, doing the same.

Maria, who was recently looking down at the floor, turned her gaze ever so slowly upward toward Fayt. She quickly turned around and jumped to the side of the bed near the wall and hid herself under the covers. "Sleep tight!" the bed sure was small, though…

Fayt laid his head down on the other half of the pillow. His breath blew lightly across Maria's hair, sending chills down her neck. She turned the other way to fend off the breathing from the back of her hair. "S-sorry…"

"It's ok… just rest up, okay? The sooner our heads stop hurting, the sooner we can get outta here… although I bet it'll be hard coming up with a plan, but anyways… forget about that for now, okay?"

"Alright… you rest up too…" she then let out a sigh and closed her eyes to fall asleep.

Xxxx

On the Diplo… 

Mirage continued to locate Maria's and Fayt's position. She gave up on contacting Maria's communicator, and now she couldn't even pinpoint her location. Well, you couldn't blame her. She had just about the whole freakin universe to search. Who knew where they could be?

While Mirage searched for the pair, Cliff checked up on Nel and the others. It really hasn't been that long, but Cliff wasn't the one to wait quietly. Nel's voice answered, "_Uh, hello?"_

"Hey Nel, how's it going? You guys almost here yet?" Cliff said. Meanwhile, in the background of Fayt's communicator, Albel rolled his eyes at Cliff's impatience.

"_Yeah, just be patient. We'll be there soon. Anyways, any hints as to where Maria and Fayt are?" _Nel asked.

Cliff sighed. "Nope, still no idea. Mirage is trying her best though. But don't worry, I know we'll find those two… we just gotta."

Nel nodded sadly. "_Yeah… I just hope they're ok…_" Roger, who was standing by Nel, jumped up and down.

"_Yep, we're gonna find those two no matter what!" _he said confidently. Albel remained silent.

The blonde smirked; he thought of what to say to put-down the little Menodix. Their history together isn't too well, as we should all know. "Are you sure that little ball of annoying fluff should come along, Nel? Seriously… he's so short and… and _short._ I don't think he could do that serious of damage to the federation guys. They're tough."

Roger scowled. He couldn't stand this **big ape.** "_Oh, is that what you think? Well, atleast I have a brain, you big lummox! You're so focused on women your brain's melted away!"_

Cliff snorted. "Oh, as if you _don't _hit on Nel twenty-four seven? I wouldn't be talking if I was you, midget."

Nel didn't like that last remark and stopped the squall between the two idiots. "_Enough you two! C'mon, we need to get going." _She then turned off the communicator and left Cliff still in the arguing attitude.

"Cliff, Cliff, Cliff…" Mirage sighed. "There's no time for petty matters like that. Now don't call them again. You're wasting precious time, you know." She then turned back toward the computer screen and continued her search.

Xxxx

Maria and Fayt were now fully awake by now and still thinking of a plan. "Hmm…" Maria sat, pondering over different plans. There wasn't much to do.

"Think of anything yet?" Fayt asked her. "I'm coming up with nothing."

Maria shook her head slowly. "Nope, nothi-…" she paused as a plan struck her. "Oh, wait a second, I have an idea!"

Fayt looked at her gladly. "Oh, really? What is it?"

"Well, I was thinking, maybe one of us can distract a passer-by-guard and then the other can knock him out when he walks in here."

"That's good! But… what do we distract him with? Or, how?" Fayt asked.

Maria lowered her head in a bummed way. "Ah… wait-!" she said even more enthusiastically then her other idea. "The guard's a _he _right…?" Maria asked. Fayt raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well, most likely, but I don't see where this is going." Fayt said, terribly confused.

The seemingly crazy blue haired girl laughed lightly under her breath. "It's easy… what man can resist a girlish charm. All I gotta do is show off a bit and get him to come in here, too distracted to pay attention to you, who will be hiding in that corner-" Maria pointed, "and that's when you'll attack!"

"Good idea…" truth be told, Fayt _did _find Maria attractive 'n all… _Wait… Did I just think that…? _But, just not stunningly hot that she could trick a guard into coming here. "But… would it work…?"

Maria lowered her eyelids in suspicion. "Oh, I see what you're getting at…" she glared at him.

"No, w-wait, I don't mean it like that!"

"Yeah! You think I can't distract him! Oh yeah, well I'll show you." Fayt slightly froze up.

"Sh-show me…?" he stuttered.

Maria nearly fell to the floor in an over-dose of embarrassment. "N-no Fayt...! Not like that!" both teens blushed like crazy. Fayt got a mental image of Maria and immediately turned the other way to hide the embarrassment in his face.

"Ofcourse not…!" Maria bit her lower lip before shaking her head. She removed her tights and the back flap of her skirt that always hung over the back of her legs, leaving her legs bare. Fayt slowly turned around to see Maria and was struck with more shock. With that half-skirt and those stockings on… Maria just seemed plain. But with her legs bare like that, and having a tight short skirt… Fayt resisted from drooling as he looked down at the floor.

"Take back your words, huh?" Maria asked approvingly.

"H-hell yeah…" Fayt coughed out.

Woah, did he really find her that hot…? She all of a sudden felt horrendously shy around him and slowly scooted two steps back. _What the hell is wrong with me…? After he just said that… I feel a bit embarrassed. Flattered, yes, but still embarrassed. _"A-anyways… let's get ready for the plan." Maria turned around just as she said that, and also just as Fayt started to lift his head again. Okay, bad move. Fayt just got a nose-bleeding shot of Maria's backside. Damn that skirt was pretty tight… Maria jumped back against the other side of the wall, realizing what she had just done.

That's the second time already he's gotten a good view of her butt… he gulped as his face blushed super bright red. "G-gah…" he couldn't help but think of how perfectly shaped it was… _GODDAMNIT! QUIT THINKING STUFF LIKE THAT! _Fayt mentally yelled at himself. _I've gotta resist for now if I ever wanna get outta here… but why the hell is she so flippin' hot all of a sudden? Argh, damn hormones… _He clenched his fists and tried to make his blush go away. He coughed nervously. "Y-yeah… let's wait for a guard." He then turned the other way and headed toward the corner. "Well, I'll just sit and wait here and you give me some kinda sign when a guard comes by, okay?"

Maria nodded. "Got it." She then leaned against the wall facing the bars and waited…

Xxxx

The group of three could soon see the transporter nearing up. Nel let out a sigh of relief. "Good, we're not too far away…"

Roger put his hands behind his head. "Say, how do you think Fayt and Maria are doing now?"

Albel, who had been mostly quiet, decided to speak up. It was fun saying unbelievably stupid stuff, or just shocking stuff in that matter… "Heh, perhaps they've already escaped and are having some 'fun'." Nel gasped in utter disbelief and Roger coughed.

"WHAT'RE YOU SAYING! DON'T GO THINKING THAT!" Nel yelled out in panic.

The warrior smirked. "C'mon… don't tell me you haven't thought about that, even just once." Roger decided to stay out of this conversation. He _was _only twelve, after all…

"W-well…" Nel began to say. "I mean like… it never really dwelled on my mind much, it's just, well… I dunno. We really shouldn't think that about them…." Albel's smirk continued to grow.

"Hmph, maggot. You're guilty as charged and don't deny it." He retorted.

"I'm not denying anything!"

"You were so denying that you think about that."

"No I wasn't!"

"Yes you were." Albel laughed lightly. There was something amusing about annoying people that Albel liked.

Roger's head pulsed. The two fighters were always arguing, and he just couldn't stand it. "JUST SHUT UP YOU RETARDS! You argue so much like a bunch of smelly ol' five year olds!" Roger, you _ass._ You should NEVER call Albel a retard, let alone a _smelly five-year-old._ Roger froze and Albel stopped in his tracks.

"What did you just call me, worm?" Roger was shaking in his... armor.

"N-nothing! Eheh…"

"You're going to regret those words, _scumbag!" _Albel then pulled out his katana and began to chase the little annoying rat. Nel sighed as she rubbed her forehead. Roger ran toward the transporter and Albel chased after him. Nel had to run after them to keep up. Thank god they were almost on the Diplo…

Xxxx

Maria stood, waiting for a guard. Finally, at long last, one starts to walk by. Maria nervously walks forward but then gains her 'courage'. "Excuse me…" she said, in a rather flirtatious way, "but my leg's been hurting…" she slightly bends her leg outward and points while holding part of her skirt up, (as if it couldn't get any shorter), "You see? Right here, near my inner thigh…" Fayt who was quietly watching in the shadows, felt his face burning up. She was real good at acting. "I was wondering if you could maybe take a quick look?" the guard stood in his tracks, staring at Maria. She was right; he couldn't resist the female body. Especially if he could get such a close view of it…

"You want me to check your inner thigh…?" stupid horny guard. He wasn't gonna pass this chance up. "Of course!" He pulled out a small glowing card and placed it near the ethereal bars and waited as they turned off. He was just about to walk into the cell as Maria quickly gave Fayt the quick 'now!' signal with her hand. The guard walked in and was soon kicked right in the face, and was knocked out right away.

"Alright!" Fayt said, keeping his voice low though as to not attract any attention. He turned to Maria.

"Okay! I didn't think that would turn out so well. He seemed a bit too interested…"

Fayt let out a quick huff of air. "Well, whadya accept? I don't think you could have gotten anymore sexual…" Maria rubbed the back of her head.

"Eh... sorry? It's easy to get carried away…" Fayt chuckled.

"No need to apologize. Let's just hurry and get out of here."

Xxxx

**A/N:** Well, once again, I sat down one night and just started typing the rest of a chapter and I finish it so soon! I wish I would do it more often… well, my excuse(s) this time is school, my laziness, and the fact you guys weren't really sending me any 'I wanna see a new chapter soon dammit!' vibes from your reviews. Although I do think some of you tried your best… thanks so much for the comments guys! I think my humor may be returning back to me, after a long… boring… break. But don't worry, I'm still going to keep this in the romance section. Haha… and as you can see. It finally seems like Fayt is noticing the hotness of Maria. Although I saw it all along… A bit of tension here and there, but hey, what's more to say that Fayt and Maria are so totally falling for eachother? Once again, reviews would be very much obliged, and this time, give me clear signs you guys would like to see chappie 11 sooner! You may use the word 'please' but that just won't do it alone. I'm tellin ya: the only way to get me to do something is to yell or just truly mean it, got it? Well, I still thank you all so very much for the reviews! They inspire me so much to write and this story makes me so happy. Why, I remember when I started back in…. June, I think… And already October? Wow… So, please review, and hope to see you all soon in the next chapter! Also, sorry I made this short, but I think it was a good spot to cut the chapter, HAH, _cliffhanger! _Okay, I hate cliffhangers, but just not when I type them… Hehehe. Well, I should end this note here. Once again, I need reviews to get me off my lazy butt! So, REVIEW! Please..?


	11. Location Found

Xxxx

Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 is not owned by me. It belongs to Tri-Ace, it's rightful owner.

**A/N: **Eheh… the last chapter was crazy, I know. But I seemed to be typing every idea, no matter how crazy, that came to my mind. (Wow… that makes it seem like I have a pretty nasty mind… but I don't!) So, seems Albel and Nel are back to enemies, eh? Well, I'm not telling what's gonna happen… That's a secret! I can assure you though; Nel _will _be paired with someone. The identity of that person, how ever, won't be revealed now. On other notes… I have so much fun writing this story, and it just makes me feel so joyous to see people who… _love _it… Thank you all so very, very much for the reviews and comments. I know, I can't say enough how much you're guys' reviews and support means, but that's because they really _do _mean of the absolute most to me. Truth be told, I would most likely be nothing without the all of you. So, once more, **thank you so very much!** (tears) Now, for the story, which is finally progressing. A quick thing though: how many chapters do you all think will be left to this story? I should be nearing the ending soon within the next 4 to 7 chapters. I honestly don't know. Anyways, no more delays! On with the story!

**Kitsurumenokitsune: **And you mean amusing in a… good way, right?

**Deathblade Prime: **Thank you! I tried to add some humor. Haha…

**Maxmagnus20019: **Thank you! Eh, I think I should keep Adray out of this, to spare you all the pain and agony of what I were to do to him.

**asga:** Hahaha, thanks! Yep, finally noticed.

**Shadow Chakra: **Meep… yes, here's your update! Don't hurt me!

**Fayt Linegod:** Thank you! Yeah, she's so totally hot. Hehe. LOL. Oh, I think that chapter must've been to overwhelming for you. Haha…

**Kanna Kogarashi:** Thank you! Yes, FeiMari is very sweet!

Xxxx

**Chapter 11: **Location Found 

Xxxx

Maria hurried to get her tights, gray half-skirt, and shoes back on then rushed out of the cell (leaving the guard unconscious) with Fayt. He moved ahead of her and looked around another corner of the Federation base. The place was big, and they hadn't a clue of where they were going. They just hoped for the best and to avoid bumping into Doireter and Krenel or some other Federation worker. Maria quietly asked into Fayt's ear, "See anyone?"

Fayt shook his head, "Nope, let's hurry." They quickly walked through the brightly lit halls, passing through many doors. Just as they walked past one door, it started to slide open, catching them off guard. Maria jumped slightly but then both hurried to turn around the corner of another hall before the person walking through the door would spot them. Fortunately, the guard opening the door didn't notice them. Unfortunately, there was already another guard in that hall and he spotted them. "Hey, you!" Fayt clenched his fists as Maria held her hand to her mouth in surprise.

"Damn it…" Fayt said angrily. "Run, hurry!" he grabbed Maria by the wrist and made a run to the opposite hall unoccupied by guards. They ran as quick as they could trying to fight away exhaustion. The two guards, in the meanwhile, were hot on their trail.

Maria and Fayt had to hide quickly or they would be caught. They made a quick turn through one of the doors and tumbled inside. Both panted for breath, but were cut short when Maria lifted her head. "Oh man…"

Fayt looked up then said in an exhausted voice, "Sh-shit…"

Doireter loomed over them, "It would have been useless to run any longer, for surely the guards would have caught you two in no time. Just be glad you ended up here instead…" he said coldly. His sleek silver hair hung over his right eye and swayed as he turned around with his hands behind his back. "We need your power, Fayt Leingod, and you're not leaving until you assist us, or perhaps we will never let you leave. And as for her-" Doireter gestured toward Maria, "we'll figure out what to do with her later." Maria whispered very quietly to Fayt.

"Just go with what he says, we can rebel against them later…" Fayt nodded slightly as to not be noticed.

"So, just to make sure you don't escape again, you'll have to be chained up and kept an eye on. Just try thinking of it as hospitality…"

"Hospitality?" Fayt spat. "What do you want with me, anyways! Shouldn't you ask first!" Fayt demanded. He stood up along with Maria.

Doireter laughed lightly, sending chills up Fayt and Maria's spines. "Ask? Only to have you refuse? Not a chance. And as for your power, we won't be telling you why we need it just yet. We'll just keep you and your little girlfriend locked up until the Leader gets down here." Fayt looked uncomfortably at the floor. Maria held tightly onto his arm. They couldn't attack, not yet…

"Fayt…" Maria said. She thought of what to say to trick Doireter into thinking they wouldn't try to escape again. "We… we can get through this…"

"Yeah." Doireter ordered the other guards in the room to come and cuff Fayt and Maria.

_Hmph, they think they can take me down so easily? No way!_ Maria quickly used her power to remove the guns from the guards' hands, enshrouding them in a blue glowing force field. Doireter tensed.

He clenched his fist. What is this…? Does she have a power too? Maria reacted quickly to bring the guards' guns to her and Fayt. Doireter clenched his fists. "Well don't just stand there! Stop them before they escape!" The guards ran toward the two escapees but had lasers shot at them. They ran through a different door of which they came in. "After those two! Don't lose the girl, either!" 

The guards fumbled. "But we don't have any weapons!" One called out.

"Grr… never mind that! I'll do it myself you pathetic bastards!" Doireter ran after Fayt and Maria with his gun readied.

Fayt held tightly onto Maria's hand as they ran. They had to find a way out of that building, no matter how long it took. Maria looked behind her, and soon enough, Doireter was catching up. She ran ahead of Fayt, still holding onto his hand, and turned into the right hall then soon another quick turn into a room. Maria held Fayt closely to the wall as she waited for Doireter's footsteps to pass by. _Thank goodness…_ Maria thought.

She shyly looked up at Fayt. She sure had him pressed closely against the wall… She blushed then backed away. "I-I'm sorry. It's just… I care too much about you to let you get caught or hurt…" she smiled sweetly at him. Fayt smiled back then got up from leaning on the wall and walked over to her.

"It's alright… I feel the same…" Maria's smile grew. She then turned around to observe the room they were in. It was empty, all except for one transporter.

"Where do you think this links to?" She asked.

Fayt walked up to her and stood beside her. "Hmm… could be anywhere. Another room, outside, the Leader's office…" he named off a few.

Maria looked around the room once more. "We might as well take the chance." She looked up to Fayt.

Fayt nodded. "Yeah. We've no where else to go, anyways." He held tightly onto Maria's hand. "Shall we go?" Maria nodded then they walked into the transporter. They appeared in a strange room, this time. Good thing; there wasn't a guard in site. Bad thing; they still had to find the exit and they had no clue of where they were.

"There's a lot of sliding doors… but one must lead to a way out of here. I guess we just take different ones and hope to get lucky." Maria hinted.

Fayt nodded then sighed. "This could take a while…"

Xxxx

Nel had to break up the fight between Albel and Roger before entering the transporter. They appeared in the transportation room on the Diplo and quickly headed to the bridge with no time to spare. Cliff turned to face the Elicoorian party as they entered the room. "There you guys are!" He said to them.

Nel crossed her arms. "What do you mean, 'there you guys are'!" she huffed. "We didn't even take long." Roger nodded in agreement.

"Hmph, impatient maggot." Albel growled. Cliff rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry, it just felt longer, considering Fayt and Maria could be in trouble." He apologized. "So, anyways. Mirage, have you found their location yet?" Cliff asked. Mirage sighed.

"Not yet, but I should be close. In the meanwhile, why don't you three go rest up? I'll just tell you all once I find them, okay?" Mirage said. ((Now, I just noticed, and I don't know if anyone else has, but it seems I have forgotten about Lieber and Sophia… I shall include them now!))

Just then, Nel and the others turned to face Lieber and Sophia as they walked in. They looked at Nel, Albel, and Roger then raised an eyebrow. Sophia immediately asked, "Huh, what're you guys doing here?" Lieber nodded.

"Yeah, did something happen?" Well, looks like his happy spree finally stopped… Sophia put her hands on her hips and waited patiently for an answer.

Mirage had almost forgotten to inform Lieber and Sophia about Fayt and Maria's kidnapping. A bit late, actually… but better late then never. She didn't want them panicking and being a nuisance, though. "Well, you two, not to give you a shock or anything… but Fayt and Maria have been kidnapped." Lieber and Sophia froze and nearly fainted.

"**W-what!**" they asked synchronously.

Lieber stuttered, " O-oh no! M-miss Maria!"

Sophia shook her head in panic, "Maria? What about Fayt? I can't believe this!"

Lieber turned to Sophia. Uh-oh… this wasn't going to be a fight, was it…? Well, you know me by now. So there isn't much of a surprise here. "Hey, don't you care about Maria? Who cares about that Fayt anyways?" Lieber, please, stop now.

" '_That Fayt'_! Ugh, don't speak of Fayt like that! Who cares what happens to Maria! If you ask me, I think it would be better if she didn't return, **ever!**" Sophia argued back. She could have sworn she just saw an evil glint in his eye…

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT! IF OU ASK ME, FAYT SHOULD JUST DIE OUT THERE!" Sophia clenched her fists.

"WHAT! YOU ASSHOLE!" Sophia yelled out at him. They now had fists raised at eachother, and fighting blood flowing through their veins. Meanwhile, the rest just sat and watched. Lieber jumped at Sophia and pushed her down on the floor then started punching her. Sophia fought back, of course. She used her fingers to poke Lieber's eyes then took his moment of weakness to have him pinned against the floor. She then shot flailed punches at Lieber.

Mirage shook her head. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were to kill eachother. Anyways, I need to continue searching. You guys just get some rest, okay?" the party nodded then slipped past the ball of fighting dust on the floor and exited the bridge.

Xxxx

Just like how it was before, Nel and Albel share a room. Anyone else notice this in the game? Quite queer… Anyways, Nel walked into the room, followed by Albel. She sighed then placed her hand to her forehead. "I don't understand why we have to share a room…"

"Bah, same here, maggot." Nel closed her eyes. She's so used to Albel calling her that, but yet, it still hurts somewhere. For some reason. She couldn't help but remember how she was the only one Albel had opened up to. It was a painful remembrance, a strange one at that, too. Yet, she still couldn't just forget about it and everything that happened. For once since she joined up with Albel again, she didn't feel like fighting back. She just let it slowly pass over her.

"Albel…" she began to say. Albel grunted slightly to show he was giving her his attention. "I… it… It's nothing." She turned away, with pain in her eyes. Albel noticed.

_Why does she look like she's in pain…? It isn't something that I did, is it?_ Albel closed his eyes then quietly looked the other way. "Nel…" he said softly to her.

Nel turned to face him. _He just called me by my name… and he didn't say it nastily either. _

"You know, I won't forget what happened. Sure, we may be fighting and arguing now like how we used to a while back, but that's just so we hide the pain deep inside. I can only ask myself what was going on, why I felt that way… I'm not the one to care about emotions or feelings, but you've somehow gotten to me. We can try to act like it won't happen, but it'll just build up. I don't want to be enemies with you, Zelpher. It's not the way to choose. So let's just try not to be so cruel to eachother…" Nel blinked in disbelief "For now on, got it… idio-… just, understand?" Nel couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't know Albel could talk so deeply about what he felt… and to make it more shocking, he could tell what Nel felt too.

She smiled faintly. It made her happy knowing Albel didn't want to fight, to be enemies. "Albel…" she cleared her voice. "Yes, I understand…" as though some strange force forced her to, she ran toward Albel and hugged him.

"Gy-gyah..!" he yelled out, trying to pull away. "What're you doing?" Nel pulled away from him as he stumbled backwards slightly.

"I'm sorry, it's just that… it made me happy to hear you say that. I don't know why, but it did." She said shyly. It made her happy when Albel was actually acting kind. It's rare to see a different side to his personality, but she's seen the most of that side then anyone else. Albel rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't sure how to react.

"I made you happy…? But how?" he asked in confusion.

Nel looked down, "I'm not for sure… but hearing you say something that isn't chauvinistic, or braggy, or rude, or heartless…" she stopped herself from continuing on with more from her list, "Well, it just makes me happy. Er, _made_ me happy." She corrected herself, knowing that Albel wouldn't appreciate hearing that he's probably made her happy before. But really… what's so bad about that?

Albel continued his gaze on Nel, who was now staring questionably at him. He finally closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Is that so?" he then headed to the bed in the room and sat down then started to remove his claw. Nel brought a finger to her lip as she thought.

_Is that all he's going to say? Well, I guess I should just leave now. Maybe take a shower… _Nel thought as she shook her head then left the room. Albel watched as the door closed behind her.

Xxxx

Maria and Fayt had taken one of the doors in the hallway and it had lead them to yet another transporter. Maria let out a huff of breath. "I'm too exhausted… let's just rest here in this room for now." The room they were currently in was of a moderate size and had a green glowing transporter. The two young people headed to a wall then sat down against it. The wall was cold, hard, and slippery. Basically because it was made of a shiny steel-like material. Maria breathed quietly as she rested against the wall. Fayt looked at her then let out a nervous cough.

"Eh… you can rest your head on my lap if you want…" he said bashfully as he fiddled with his fingers and looked down at the black floor.

"Huh, are you sure?" Maria asked. Fayt nodded then looked back up at Maria. "Why, thank you…" she laid down and rested her head on Fayt's lap. Her long blue hair fell daintily around his legs. She looked into Fayt's eyes then smiled. Fayt slightly blushed but then smiled back. She set her arm on her stomach and used the other one to reach her hand to Fayt's cheek. She brought the back of her hand lightly across his cheek. "You're so sweet… You know that, Fayt?" she said quietly then brought her hand down and smiled again. Fayt blushed some more as he ran his hand along where Maria's hand just was. Such a soft, warm hand… He grinned then gently stroked her hair.

"We'll just continue finding a way out of here later. Still have to keep our ears and eyes out, unfortunately." He said. Maria nodded.

"Yeah…" then quietly she turned her head so that Fayt couldn't make out her words and barely voiced, "Not too much time for us, that means…"

Xxxx

Sophia and Lieber had finally stopped fighting on the bridge and were back in their rooms. In the meanwhile. Mirage yawned as she continued to search. Cliff looked toward her. "Hey now… if you need to rest, then go ahead. Just let Marietta take over. You'll be able to search better if you aren't tired." He suggested.

The younger Klausian turned her head to face Cliff. "But… I want them to be found as soon as possible-."

"And you can't do that when you're exhausted." Cliff finished off her sentence in a different way then of what she intended to say.

There was no use arguing with him. He was right. Mirage sighed then smiled and got up. "You're right… I am pretty tired… Marietta?" Marietta, who was sitting at the front of the bridge as usual, answered to the call of her name.

"Yes, ma'am?" she asked.

"Could you continue the search for me while I get some sleep?" Marietta sat up from her seat.

"Certainly. I'll be there right away." She walked up the stairs then turned to the computer and sat down. "Now, you go rest, okay? I'll take care of everything." She cleared out to Mirage.

Mirage nodded. "Of course, of course… I'll be sure to. Well, I will be back later. " She then left the bridge and headed toward her room. As she was walking, she saw Roger in the hall. "Roger?" Roger turned toward her.

"Yes, dear lady?" Roger turned around, replying in a well manner towards Mirage.

"Where're you going?" she asked, staring almost vertically down at Roger.

Roger put his hands behind his head as he said in a rather playful manner, "Ah, not much. Just walking around, gonna go see what people were up to… say, what're you doing, Miss Mirage?" he informed then asked.

"Ah, me? Well, I was heading to my room to get some sleep…" she said. "Ill just be going now- don't get in any trouble or bother anyone. I don't want to hear another argument between you and Cliff." She then continued to walk and headed to her room.

Roger rubbed the back of his head then walked to Albel and Nel's room. Maybe he could hear in on what Albel and Nel fought about. Hey, it was worth the risk. He stuck his ear to the door but was disappointed when he couldn't hear anything. "Aw phooey…"

Mirage laid down on her bed. She knew she was supposed to rest, but still… she still wanted to search for Maria and Fayt. She knew Marietta could take care of that for now. She let out a long sigh then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Xxxx

A little while later, Mirage woke up then sat up and rubbed her eyes drearily. She then tidied up her hair and left for the bridge._ I wonder if Marietta has had any luck…_ Mirage walked through the sliding door to the bridge and headed straight to her seat. "Marietta?" Marietta turned around.

"Oh, Mirage! Did you rest well?" she asked then Mirage nodded.

"Yes, but… have you found anything?" She questioned.

"I think I'm getting close… right now I'm checking a planet called Garlyn. It looks like a planet consisting entirely of Federation forces. I know they're here, I just know it." Mirage leaned over Marietta's shoulder as the shorter one continued searching. After a couple of minutes, they finally found their location. "They're here!" Marietta yelled out. Everyone else in the bridge turned toward her. "The coordinates are right there." Mirage read the screen as Cliff ordered the ship to be lead to the planet Garlyn.

"I have to go get Nel, Roger, and Albel. Get us there right away!" Mirage yelled as she hurried out of the bridge. She ran into Roger in the halls, which saved from searching for him. "Roger, we've found Fayt and Maria so stay with me while I get Nel and Albel." Roger nodded as Mirage went to the other's room. When she walked in along with Roger, they were sitting down quietly on the bed. Albel looked up.

"What is it?" he asked. His voice was sounding dry from not talking for about an hour. Nel blinked in question.

"Maria and Fayt's position has been located. We're heading there now, so be ready to come to the bridge because we'll be there soon." Mirage informed the two Elicoorians.

"You've found them?" Nel asked in joy. "That's such a relief!" she stood up as Albel hurried to strap his claw back on.

"Yes, but it seems they're in a Federation base, so they must still be captives. We're sending you, Albel, and Roger down to go get them before the Federation tries anything drastic." She said. Albel managed a small grunt, but not intended in a rude way. It was a relieved grunt, even though it didn't make quite much sense. Albel's emotions are different from others though, so they shouldn't be taken the wrong way.

"Well, I'll be at the bridge. Come there when you're ready." Mirage then left the room, although Roger chose to stay. He seated himself in a nearby chair.

Nel looked up at Albel. "Aww, come on Albel. I know you were really worried about those two. Don't just grunt. Show that you're glad!" she nudged him teasingly, trying to be nice as they both agreed.

"I don't want to." Albel frowned. Nel lowered her eyelids in a sign of being fed up.

"You're strange… you know that?" She asked. Roger just sat and watched. Apparently, they weren't paying much attention to him.

"What's it to you." Albel asked but then decided to sound less rude. "Yeah, so…"

The redhead sighed. "Couldn't you just smile _once?_ You're very depressing, you know…"

"Well you can't blame me. You already know what I've been through so don't patronize me." Albel snapped back.

Nel shook her head in sadness. "Yes, I know… I'm sorry. I should show more understanding towards you…" Roger raised an eyebrow. He was now curious to know what happened between the two, but knew it was a terrible notion to ask. "Forgive me?"

Albel lowered his eyes to Nel. "Yeah, yeah…" it wasn't everyday Albel would forgive someone. But he just tried not to make it seem too important and shrugged it off. "Well, let's go." The three left the room to go to the bridge, soon to arrive at Garlyn.

Mirage said as they entered, "The planet Garlyn is a little over 3 light years away, so we'll be there shortly using gravitic warp." All but Albel nodded to show they understood clearly, who just closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

The small group went to go wait outside the bridge on the bench and after a little before ten minutes, Mirage called them in. "Well, we're in the gravitational field of Garlyn now, so just head to the transporter room." Cliff clenched his fist.

"Yeah, you three can save them now. The transporter will be set near the base, so once you get them, come back and we'll see what to do next. Surely, we can't just save them and be done with. We'll have to do something about the Federation bastards first." He said.

"So please be careful." Mirage added.

"We will. Bye for now." Nel said.

"See ya soon!" Roger said. They then left the bridge, but right outside was Sophia.

She scanned her eyes across their faces. "Where're you guys going now?" she asked.

"Fayt and Maria have been found and we're leaving to get them." Nel told her.

"What! Why am I always told these things so late!" Sophia yelled out. "I wanna come along!"

"Pfsh, no way maggot. You'd just be dead weight." Albel said hastily. Sophia scowled.

"No I wouldn't! I wanna come along!"

"YOU WILL NOT BE TAGGING ALONG THAT USELESS WEIGHT OF YOURS. YOU'LL ONLY SLOW US DOWN." Albel said angrily and sternly. "A bag of rocks would be more useful then you. Atleast it can damage someone…"

"You're a fat jerk…" Sophia mumbled.

"And I'll stay this way as long as it pisses you off." Nel snorted at the remark. She couldn't help it, Albel was just too funny, even if he didn't mean to act it. Even Roger let out a small laugh.

"HAHA, you been **dissed.**" He mocked.

"Grr… I hate you two… Albel and Roger… but you better not let Fayt get harmed or else I'll be mad." She said.

Albel smirked. "Oh, and what're you gonna do to me? Nag me to death? Hmph, I doubt you can do anything threatening." Albel then walked past her as Nel and Roger followed. Sophia clenched her fists as she stomped her feet walking away. Just right in front of the transporter room was Lieber.

He opened his mouth and was about to ask but Nel cut in, "Don't ask. We're just leaving to save Fayt and Maria." Then, without another word, her, Roger, and Albel entered the transporter while Lieber raised an eyebrow in question.

Xxxx

**A/N:** Wow, just earlier, I was reading chapters 2-7 of this story… I found more mistakes I hadn't noticed before, also, I noticed my writing style is different… plus there were way too many side notes in the middle of the chapters. I apologize dearly if that was found annoying… So, anyways… I'm just going along with the story here. I already have the next chapter planned out. Thanks for the reviews! I believe the yelling won't be necessary now. The reviews alone show people care about my story, and that's good enough for me. Wow, I seem so mellow… hmm… Not too much to say, just that I find some flaws in the storyline from earlier chapters… I hope it all smoothens out soon. Well, hope to see you soon in the next chapter!


	12. Freedom

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Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 does not belong to me. It rightfully belongs to its creator, Tri-Ace.

**A/N:** Well, unlike what I did more the last two chapters, I started typing the next chapter two days after the update of the last one… that's usually not a good sign. I hope I don't do this too often. A lot of typing could have been done in those two days. Not too sure what to say now… I am still unsure of how many more chapters are left of this story. Ah… I should try and think of something else for my other fanfic, shouldn't I? Back to this story: My guess is around… perhaps five or more chapters. You'll see what I have planned… And also, soon I will be making changes in all of my chapters, 1-7. Yes, all of those. But I won't be retyping the whole chapters. Just adjusting some things… Well, now, to the story. I'm so sorry I'm slowing down again…

**Deathblade Prime:** Hehe, thank you for the review!

**ultimadragoon3000: **Hm, it's a good idea, but… I couldn't give Lieber so much strength, and the katana is Albel's weapon. Nice idea, though.

**MelanieStar: **Yeah, I hate seeing Albel and Nel completely hate each other so much.Yep, the Federation is a big problem. Thank you very much for reviewing!

**asga: **Haha, my hate for Sophia can't go any farther! Thank you for the review!

**Infrared Rayz: **Please, don't worry about it. Yes, I apologize so much for it! ((hides in shame)) Thank you for reviewing! It doesn't matter how late you review.

**Fayt Linegod:** Haha… Yes, Albel _is _a big character. One of my favorite also. Thanks so much for suggesting another battle scene. I have quite a lot of fun writing them, although the one in this chapter is only the second one you guys will have read. I have written more, though. Thanks a lot for saying that, though. I think battle scenes add more fun to reading this story!

**Kanna Kogarashi:** Yes, I would kill her… but I just don't have it in me, and plus, there actually some people her don't hate her like the majority of us! I find it quite shocking… A kiss between Fayt and Maria would so sweet, it'd cause cavities! Hah… although I don't need anymore than I got!

**Coud Van Giruett: **Why… you think so? Thank you oh so much!

**i love fayt: **Ah… I'm really sorry to hear that. It must suck! I am glad you're able to read it though, none the less. Thank you for reviewing, and also, I thank all of you for reviewing!

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**_Chapter 12: _**Freedom

Xxxx

Fayt and Maria had regained their energy and soon left through the transporter. Just ahead of them when they exited the transporter was a large sliding door with a computer to type in a password nearby. Maria walked up to it. "Do you think this could be the exit…?" she asked.

"Yeah… I think so." He walked up to it. "Think you could hack into it and open the door?" Maria walked up to the computer screen and a keyboard appeared.

"I can try-." Unfortunately, right at that moment, Fayt and Maria turned around as they heard someone enter through the transporter. "No… not him again…"

Doireter appeared, soon followed by Krenel. Each had a smile of satisfaction on their faces. Krenel pulled out his gun. "Thought you two could get away so easily, huh? Well it's a dead end, so surrender peacefully and we won't have to attack." His green eyes flashed with fury behind his dirty blonde hair.

Maria and Fayt still had their guns that they stole and held them up. Fayt had become too used to the sword though, and was worried he wouldn't be able to fight back. His sword was still stashed somewhere away in the building.

"We're never giving into your diabolical plans, whatever they are…" Fayt began to say but raised his voice again. "So you might as well just fire now and get over your humiliating loss!" Doireter and Krenel just laughed lightly under their voices and Doireter stepped ahead.

"Suit yourself." He said. The battle begun.

Maria and Fayt ran in different directions, forcing Krenel and Doireter to separate. Maria dodged one of Krenel's bullets by jumping and rolling on the ground. She then aimed her gun right up at him and fired a shot. The shot glazed his cheek, but he didn't pay any attention to it even as some blood emerged and began to trickle down. "You're going to have to aim better then that, little girl." He ran after her and Maria leaped off the floor and began to run again. Krenel fired a chain of shots, but Maria swiftly dodged each one, sending back the same amount of bullets with her gun. Krenel used his gun to deflect her bullets then took one big leap to end up by her. Maria almost fell back but managed to keep her balance and landed a kick to Krenel's face. He staggered backwards as Maria jumped to the side and fired some shots. Krenel clumsily dodged the first ones, but was struck by the last one. He clutched his arm that was holding the gun and gave Maria a dissatisfied glare. He stood up straight and began to run while still clutching his arm, which now had some blood emerging through the cloth.

Fayt dealt with Doireter, on the other hand. Doireter was swifter then Krenel, but didn't have the speed to keep up with Fayt. The bluenette tried aiming the gun at Doireter, but his attempts were failed. He just wasn't used to a gun. He continued to run as Doireter was catching up and began to fire at Fayt. The laser shots barely missed him by centimeters as he rolled to the side and aimed the gun at Doireter. He pulled back on the trigger and prayed that his aim was good. Once the shot bounced off of Doireter's gun, Fayt got back up and ran in circles around Doireter. He wasn't giving up so easily. He aimed his gun at Doireter and fired them in a series of un-timed shots. Fayt couldn't get a perfect hit and was becoming less confident. You know what… screw the gun. Fayt ran up to Doireter, dodging every bullet, then kicked his hard shoe with all his force straight into Doireter's head. Doireter fell backwards as Fayt stood preparing himself until he got up.

Maria, in the meanwhile, was having more luck with Krenel. Most of her gun shots hit the target and she was only getting minor injuries inflicted on her. She had already given Krenel a number of good kicks to the stomach, knees, and head, but he was relentless. Finally, Maria aimed her gun straight and Krenel's chest and fired. The blonde fell forward to floor clutching his chest in pain. "No, I… I can't lose… This shouldn't be…" he then passed out cold on the freezing floor. Maria stood, panting. She was just about to fall to the floor on her knees when she spotted Doireter out of the corner of her eyes. His gun was aimed _straight at Fayt's head._ Maria gasped in shock.

"Thought you could take me down? Not a chance. I'm far more superior then you. Better start saying your last prayers…" Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Maria raised her gun.

"No…Fayt…!" she yelled out as she fired a laser shot straight into Doireter's stomach. It was almost as if time froze; Fayt jumped out of the way just as the gun flew out of Doireter's hands. Doireter fell and passed out as soon as he hit the floor. Fayt stumbled to the ground, gasping for breath. Maria ran up to him, jumping over Krenel's unconscious body. "Fayt!" she yelled out in worry. She leaned over Fayt's body and helped him to sit up. She supported him with her arms, holding him with worry and care. "Fayt… are you okay? He didn't fire, did he? Are you hurt?"

Fayt regained some breath before speaking. "No… I'm okay… thanks… for saving me. I would've been a goner…" he smiled weakly. Maria nearly cried in relief. She was so glad… so glad that Fayt was okay. She wouldn't've been able to live without him.

"Fayt… I'm so glad…" she pulled him closer and held him in a tight hug, her face burying itself into his neck. "…You had me so worried…" she managed to say softly. Fayt sat in slight shock, but then smiled again.

"Maria…" he spoke quietly… Maria lifted her face and pulled away slightly."…Um, let's get out of here before Krenel and Doireter regain consciousness." Fayt began to stand up and helped Maria up.

"Y-yeah…" she walked over to the large door and went back to the transparent keyboard. She typed in some things, focusing intently as Fayt watched beside her. "They have this certain computer secured up… I can't seem to hack into it."

"I know you can do it. You're the smartest person I know…" Maria looked up at him and smiled.

"You're right. I know I can do this." She then put all her focus back onto the computer. After a couple more minutes of trying, she finally managed to get the door to open. "Yes! It opened!" The large door slid open as sunlight began to seep through the cracks. Finally, it opened all the way, and Fayt held Maria by the hand as they ran through. The bright sun's rays pierced through their eyes causing them to shield them with their hands.

"Finally… we're out. But I doubt that's all." Maria said exhaustedly.

Fayt nodded. "Yeah… we'll have to get our weapons too, later."

"You just like that sword too much, huh?" Maria asked. It was true, Fayt adored his sword of which he worked on and added new abilities and statistics to it for so long. He calls it 'One like no other'.

Fayt rubbed the back of his head to show his embarrassment. "Heh… yeah."

"Hmm… I wonder… maybe I can contact the Diplo right about now." Maria pulled out her communicator, but shook her head in dismay. "No, still blocked. Well, let's just wander around for now. Maybe they'll show up… I just can't stand being by this building right now." Fayt nodded in agreement and they began to walk.

Xxxx

Nel, Albel, and Roger wandered through the cleared roads as a building could be seen far off in the distance. The Federation area was made to look less hi-tech. Maybe to achieve concealment. "Is that shabby lookin' building waaay over there supposed ta be the bad guys' base?" Roger asked casually.

"No, it's a playground _full of toys_." Nel said sarcastically. Albel snorted as he tried to hold back his laughter, which really would've only been a couple of 'heh's, anyways. Roger frowned.

"Wait, you're serious?" he asked excitedly.

"**No, I was just kidding. _JEEZ_. **No duh it's their freakin base. **What the hell else would it be!**" Nel said angrily before ignoring Roger completely. Albel couldn't help it this time. He started to laugh, eventually turning almost into his evil cackles. Nel raised an eyebrow as she stopped and turned around to face Albel. "What're you…" Albel immediately stopped laughing.

"What? So I found it funny. Well, it's just true. This idiot right here-" he gestured toward Roger, "should've know that it was a base. I just wish that _I_ would've been the one to tell him that." Roger's scowl grew.

Nel laughed lightly. "Yeah… that's true…" _I wonder… was that the first time I've ever made Albel… laugh? No one else could've done that, could they…?_ Albel eyed Nel with suspicion as she thought.

"What're you thinking about, Zelpher…?" he asked. Nel turned to face him.

"Oh, uh… nothing much." She lied.

Albel lightly let out a short breath of air as he continued to walk. "Whatever…"

Nel sighed. Roger remained silent. He didn't want to be ridiculed for asking another question, or maybe for just talking. But eventually, Roger had to talk. He wouldn't let any questions of his go unanswered. "So… how do you think Fayt and Maria are doing right about now? Maybe they already escaped…"

"Even if they did, we'll still bring them back. And I just have this feeling that even after they're back on the Diplo, it won't be over. Just looking back at what we've been through, since when has it really been over? We were never just done with one thing and had it all happy. A lot of surprises, among other things, are in store."

"Hmph, well said…" Albel said. "Even after that's all done… there'll still be more, different worries and concerns."

Nel nodded. "Exactly."

Roger walked in blank thought. "Um… so, that means…?"

Albel clenched his claw, "It means this isn't going to be over, _maggot_!" Albel yelled in anger.

Roger jumped then pouted. "Jeez, fine... I won't ask anymore questions!"

"Oh thank Apris… that'll save us all a headache." Nel sighed in relief. Roger's pout grew. Why was everyone so mean to him, anyways? He didn't notice he was annoying.

They continued to walk, nearing the federation base.

Xxxx

Mirage, Cliff, and the others were finally able to relax a little now that they were near Fayt and Maria, but their fate was still unknown to them. No pun intended there… but Mirage could get back to regular duties and not become as tired as when she was continuously searching. Cliff was sitting in his chair as he turned to face Mirage.

"When do ya think they'll be back?" he asked, trying to make the conversation seem as normal as he could achieve.

Mirage turned her head toward him. "I'm not too sure… I think that maybe before night falls in this area of the planet, or even a little longer. But we are all positive they'll be returning soon and unharmed, right?"

Cliff nodded. "Yep. If there's anyone on this ship that doubts their safe return, then I'll just give them a smack or two to knock some sense into them." Mirage laughed lightly.

"Yeah…"

Meanwhile, Sophia and Lieber nervously paced the halls of the Diplo. Sophia led her way into the kitchen/cafeteria. Nik, who I hope you guys haven't forgotten, walked up to her while he was drying out a cup with a clean towel. "Hey there. Is somethin' botherin' ya?" Sophia, who was looking down at the table she was sitting at, lifted her head.

"Huh…? Oh, well, no. I just hope that Fayt makes it back safe."

"Fayt? Oh, ya mean that lil' whiny blue head? Haha, of course he will. That kid's got it in him. Hey now, what about Maria? Don't you want her to return back safely?" Lieber walked into the room just as Sophia was replying.

"Hmm, Maria? Nah… I don't really care. She only gets in the way between me and Fayt." Lieber snorted.

"You and Fayt? You two never had anything going on between eachother in the first place!" Lieber stated then began to laugh, "Infact, I think he barely even notices you exist!" He began to laugh harder. "The chances of you and him hooking up are the chances of… of… pigs flying!"

Sophia's eye twitched but then calmly said. "You know… they actually succeeded in doing that five years ago. Fused a pig with wings and it flew straight out the window."

Lieber frowned, then looked up in thought. "Wait, you're serious…? Hold on! Um… the chances of you and Fayt hooking up is when… are the chances of… of… when you get a brain!" Lieber finally managed to think up of. Nik pulled back, worried as to what would happen. News about the squalls between Sophia and Lieber spread quickly, and boy did it sound nasty.

The brunette rolled her sleeves up. "Oh… that's so it now." She pounced at Lieber, who was already ready to fight. "YEAH! Well, the chances of you and Maria ever hooking up is when Cliff says something smart!" At that point, Cliff walked in and told them the three Newton's Laws of Motion. Okay… that didn't really happen. Would Cliff even know the three Laws of Motion? Anyways…

"Oh, so now you're bringing Cliff into this! You're unbelievable!" After that, Lieber and Sophia began to fight viciously. Nik set down the glass he was currently drying for far too long, and yelled out.

"Hey, hey, hey! I just cleaned the place! Don't go makin' a mess!" They paid no attention to him, though. They knocked down chairs and at one point, Lieber yelled out.

"OW! YOU BIT ME! YOU JUST _BIT ME_!" Nik learned to ignore them and continued with the dishes.

"Buncha dumb asses…" he said lightly under his breath. Sophia and Lieber then began to fist fight, then kick fight, then slap fight, then whatever other fight you can think of. Well, now enough of them and their petty fights. Let us go back to Fayt and Maria!

Xxxx

Fayt and Maria continued walking, completely bored out of their minds. But boredom was the least of their problems. "You don't supposed they gained consciousness and sent some guys after us, do you?" Maria asked.

"No, I don't think so. They went down pretty hard. I know one thing for sure; we won't have to worry about them themselves to come after us. They wouldn't want to lose to us again." Maria smiled.

"Yeah… it must've been pretty humiliating for them. Oh, especially for when the one in charge of them were to figure out!"

"Haha, yep!" Fayt grinned.

"So… what do you feel like talking about?"

Fayt turned his head slightly as he thought. "Hmm… how do you think the others on the Diplo are doing? We haven't seen them in a while."

"Yeah, that's true. Well, they should be okay. Although, I am dreading to face Lieber. You're going to have to suffer with Sophia too. She wouldn't let you out of her sight."

Fayt sighed. It was true. "Yeah…"

"You know, you're going to have to face her soon enough. Just tell her, 'Sophia, I'm not interested in you and I never will be so just leave me alone and stop pestering me'. Well, that's how you _should_ say it, but you would probably choose a nicer way."

Fayt rubbed the back of his head. "Really, now? Does it show that much?"

Maria grinned. "Well, you're always so nice and sweet to me…" she slightly blushed saying that sentence, causing Fayt to feel his cheeks burn a little too.

"Ah, well… it's just because…"

"Because…?"

"Well, because, I-"

"Fayt, Maria!" Fayt stopped in his sentence as he and Maria saw Nel, Albel, and Roger running toward them. "We're so glad you're okay!" Nel said in relief.

"You guys!" Fayt said as he ran forward along with Maria.

"Glad you're safe…" Albel said unenthusiastically.

Roger jumped up and down happily. "Yay! You're all okay!"

Maria nodded. "Yeah, fortunately. So, does this mean the Diplo is nearby?"

"Yes, just above the trees. You can't see it from here, though."

Fayt sighed. "Thank goodness…"

"Yes, well, let's head back. We will see what our next moves will be there." Both bluenettes nodded and they all began to walk.

After around five minutes of silence, Albel spoke. "So…anything happen?"

"Huh, what do you mean?" Fayt asked.

"Oh, you know… any kisses…?" he asked mockingly. Fayt and Maria blushed synchronously, a bright red color. Fayt gulped.

"What… what makes you ask that…?"

"Just wondering." Maria lowered her head to hide her embarrassment. "Well, answer me, did you or didn't you?"

"No!" both yelled, wavering in their voices.

Albel smirked then laughed lightly. This was just too fun… "No need to become so offensive about it. Heh, fools…" Roger was snickering and Nel was rolling her eyes.

Roger then began to sing the all too familiar, and all to annoying, childhood song, "Fayt and Maria sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-."

"You better not finish that word or I'll seriously hurt you." Fayt threatened. Honestly, after being threatened by Albel, anyone else's threats didn't really matter to Roger. He smirked then swished his tail around.

"G." He finished. Fayt clenched his fists and began to run after Roger, who was cackling evilly in a very immature manner.

"Get back here you little ass!" Roger continued to run, his 'evil cackles' growing louder. Maria, Albel, and Nel, all let out a sigh. Just as Fayt was about to catch Roger, though, Maria clutched her side as she leaned down on the floor.

"Agh, ow!" Everyone stopped and turned to face her. Fayt ran away from Roger then leaned down by Maria, setting his hand on her back.

"Maria… are you okay? Is something the matter?" he asked in worry.

Maria shook her head. "N-no… I'm ok." She tried standing up, still clutching her side, but fell back down to her knees.

"Maria!" Fayt yelled. Maria removed her hand to reveal a dent in the armor around her torso. "What? I didn't notice that… how come you've been walking around like this?"

"I'm fine, really…" everyone else walked up to her. Fayt shook his head.

"No, you're not." He said. Nel walked closer then leaned down by Maria.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked softly.

Maria breathed lightly before replying. "Right here…" she held her hand over one side of her rib cage where the dent in the armor was. "That guy back in the base… he shot at me and I couldn't get out of the way in time…"

"It may be a bruised rib… would you mind if I removed the armor?" she asked. Maria nodded slowly and Nel began to remove the black armor to reveal the black zip-up dress that was under it. Nel gently touched the area where Krenel shot at Maria, and she pulled back in pain as a tear formed in her eye.

"Ow… that really hurts…" Fayt remained sitting by her as his eyebrows turned upward in concern.

"Just as I thought… the damage inflicted on the armor also caused it to bruise a rib. You stressed it too much by walking that distance. You can't walk like that." Nel informed. Maria sighed as Nel held the armor and stood up. "Just have someone carry you for now, we'll be at the Diplo soon." Maria nodded.

"I'll carry you." Fayt said. He put his arm under her knees and the other below her arms. He carefully lifted her and asked, "Does that hurt at all?"

"No…" He continued to lift her up all the way as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into it. "Just be careful, okay?"

Fayt smiled. "You won't have to worry about it."

"Thank you…" she voiced quietly as the party began to walk again. Any pain she felt in her rib seemed to disappear when she was near him like that. _Fayt… you're so kind_…

Xxxx

**A/N:** Well, here we have it, chapter twelve! I'm sorry I got lazy again. But I finished over half of this in two days when I started to type again! Impressive, huh? Haha, well, for me atleast… Hmm, I hope Fayt and Maria are getting closer, and as for Albel and Nel… man, I don't know what I'm gonna do with them. Hah, seems like everyone is starting to dislike Roger, huh? Don't worry, there's still some who love him… like his parents! Ahahaha, wow, I never realized how mean I could be to him… I'll try to stop. Keyword: Try.

There I go, rambling off again. I can't quite think of important stuff to say… OH, YES, I just remembered what I wanted to add to this A/N. I made some (a lot) of changes in Chapter One for this story. It would mean a lot to me if you guys could read over it and see if I have improved it or not, which I hope I did… please do! Hm, well, I think I'm done here… and don't worry, I found a way to lengthen the story a little more. Fewer than fifteen chapters just would've been too depressing! I don't know how, but… the story shall live! And one more thing… I hope to have Fayt and Maria kiss soon… oh, maybe the next chapter! Or should I save it for the end of the story? Please tell me when you think they should kiss in your review. Review please, and see you all later!


	13. Sophia the Psychopath

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Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 and related trademarks belong to Tri-Ace.

**A/N:** Hm, well… thanks to your guys' replies, I have decided when to put in the kiss. I won't say when, though… Hah, well, I am guessing that you all want it in this chapter. Don't get me wrong, I do to! I mean like… come on… thirteen chapters and still no kiss? Well, you all will just have to wait and see, now won't you? Ah… chapter thirteen and almost one hundred reviews… I feel so happy I want to cry! If only I could give all you loyal reviewers and readers a gift to show my gratitude… but right now, I'll just thank you all reading this right now with a. Big. Huge. Loud. Loving full. And truthful… "**_THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! I LOVE YOU ALL!"_ **Ahem, well now… I think I've lost my voice now, but the story must live on!

**Deathblade Prime:** Haha… I never considered having them fall in love… I have gotten Sophia and Lieber to hate each other so much already; I doubt ever seeing something like love between them.

**asga:** Haha, of course they'll be kissing… this story is getting a bit harder to type, lately.

**MelanieStar:** Yes, Fayt is so sweet! A bit too sweet for his own good, at times. Ah, glad to hear that you don't care much when they do finally kiss… Aw, a 100/10! Thank you very much, I'm flattered! Hahaha, yes… beating around Roger is just a bit too much fun. Hehe.

**J.G. the Game Master:** Thank you so much for the wonderful review! Haha, oh, thank you for that idea! That would be so fun to write/read! I'll keep that scene in mind… Hahaha, 'laughing like an idiot', once again, thank you very much! I'm glad my story could make you laugh! I hope you will not be disappointed with this chapter.

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**_Chapter 13:_** Sophia the Psychopath

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Maria had almost fallen asleep in Fayt's comforting arms as they neared the transporter that would bring them back to the Diplo. They all remained silent, even the loud and questioning Roger. Alas, she couldn't help it as her eyes slowly began to close, her arms still wrapped around his neck. The warmth of his body cooing her to slumber.

Fayt slowly looked down at Maria's soft skinned face and smiled as he heard the sleeping girl breathing lightly. Nel, still holding onto Maria's torso armor, took a glance out of the side of her eye and smiled when she saw the grin upon Fayt's mouth. _I guess things are turning out pretty well… even through this whole mess we've been through._ She silently thought. _Hahah… I still wonder how Albel feels about all of this._

Through out the next couple of minutes it took to get to the transporter, it still remained quiet. They soon arrive, fortunately. Fayt still held Maria, not wanting to wake her, and they all entered the transporter. One-by-one, they appeared in the transportation room near the end of the ship. They exited it and stood by the door that would lead them to the main halls. Fayt smiled lightly before slowly waking up Maria.

"Maria… we're here now…" he began to say lightly into Maria's ear. Maria stirred slightly before her eyes began to slowly open. She moaned lightly, gesturing her exhaustion.

"Huh… wha… Fayt…" her eyes fully opened as she blushed. "F-Fayt? Oh, I'm so terribly sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep." Fayt set her down but Maria moved out his arms more quickly then he could react. "Please forgive me…" Nel, Albel, and Roger waited patiently. Maria bowed slightly then lifted her head and looked around. "Oh… we're…back?" the blush that was once on her face disappeared as she tried to stand back straight up but once again felt the pain return after it's short reside.

"No, Maria, you're still hurt. I'll guide you for now." Fayt said with tender care stringing through his words. Maria smiled faintly then nodded.

"Alright…" she set her arm behind Fayt's neck and above his shoulders as he held onto her hand around him to support her. The party then began to finally leave the enclosed room. As soon as they walked through, nearby crew members were cheering and voicing their joy for the teens' safe return. Maria and Fayt both waved at them and slowly began to head to the bridge.

They neared the over sized doors and walked through. Immediately, Cliff, Mirage, Marietta, and the rest of the Diplo members in the bridge turned around in their seats and stopped what they were currently doing. "Maria, Fayt!" Mirage exclaimed in relief as she hurriedly ran to the two teens. She stood in front of them, smiling as her worries and concerns left her. Cliff got out from his seat and walked up to them also. "We're so glad that you are both safe! All of us have been worried!" she said happily. Maria leaned off from Fayt and ran up to Mirage as she hugged the older woman in her gentle, yet strengthened arms, burying her face into Mirage's chest.

"Mirage!" Maria yelled happily. Cliff rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh… I exist too, ya know." Maria smiled as she pulled away from Mirage and gave Cliff a hug too.

"I'm so glad to be back…" she pulled away again and winced in pain, trying not to let anyone notice, but Mirage saw, of course.

She tilted her head in worry as she asked, "Maria, what's the matter? Are you hurt?" Maria shook her head weakly.

"N-no…" Maria said quietly. Mirage shook her head as her eyebrows furrowed upward in worry and concern. Fayt sighed as Albel, Nel, and Roger remained behind the rest of the others.

Mirage walked back to Maria, who had her hand set on the bruised rib, and looked into the bluenettes dark green eyes, "Maria, you're in pain, I can tell. You know you can't hide it from me." Maria smiled in defeat. It was true, Mirage could almost read her every expression now; her every thought, feeling…

Fayt walked up to the two, now. "She got injured in battle…" he said, rather sadly.

Nel left the current corner she was in and walked up to the chatting bunch. She raised her hand to her chin as she inquired, "I can heal her, if you want, quickly and effectively, too. In the meanwhile, Fayt, you tell Cliff and Mirage what there is probably to be known." She said, gesturing a helping hand.

"Okay. Maria, you go and get treated then rest up. We can't have our captain injured." Cliff said jokingly. Fayt looked at Maria. He had gotten so caught up in other events, that it almost passed his mind Maria was captain. She would feel the responsibility of the ship and group on her shoulders again. He noticed the slight sign of sadness and regret in her eyes. An all too familiar look, by now. She nodded emotionlessly as Nel led her to her room. Albel and Roger were now left with nothing to do but to join in on the conversation that was arousing in between the bluenette and two blondes.

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Fayt then explained what happened to Mirage and Cliff, telling them the most important information. Mirage sighed when he was finished explaining. "I knew the Federation would be after you sooner or later. Same with Maria, but it seems they didn't recognize her. Which is a very good thing. That would have created more problems for us. Knowing how desperately the federations wants you two, we can all be sure that their pursuit to capture you and Maria is not over yet."

Fayt nodded, but then shook his head. "Wait, what? They want Maria too? Jeez…" Mirage nodded sadly, a 'unfortunately' look upon her eyes.

"Then… what about Sophia? She has the Connection gene. Even though we haven't known this for long, the Federation would've been bound to figure it out by now, wouldn't they?" Fayt asked in concern. Yes, Sophia also was the embodiment of a special gene. Her power was rarely put to use, though, and news of it hasn't gotten out. No one is planning to let the Federation know.

"Perhaps, but we've done our best to try and protect her from the Federation's interests. If they figured that out too, we would be in a huge load of trouble." Mirage finished off. Cliff nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, so it's best not to worry about it and just try to let it pass your mind. Don't worry Sophia either by telling her that the Federation could be after her if they knew of her power." He stated briefly. Fayt looked down at the floor. Albel and Roger continued to watch the conversation, although Roger couldn't understand all that Albel could comply with.

Soon after, Fayt left the bridge after finishing talking with Cliff and Mirage. He slowly strode to Maria's room, wondering if Nel had healed her yet. He slowly walked into Maria's room to see Nel just quietly getting up from the chair across from the bed, which Maria was currently resting in. She spotted Fayt then walked over to him. She said quietly, "She'll be okay now. I urged her to rest for now. Poor thing… she must've been really tired. She fell sleep just about three minutes ago. After some rest, she should be back up on her feet." Fayt nodded.

"Thanks a whole bunch, Nel." He said, bowing slightly. Nel smiled.

"It's no problem. I'm happy to help." At that, Nel walked out of the room as Fayt led his way to the chair. He slowly sat down in it and leaned back against the backrest. He just wanted to be by Maria right now… he and Maria have gotten so close on Elicoor.

Fayt got off the chair then sat down on the floor by Maria's bed, looking at her sleeping eyes. So beautiful, just lying there… True, back on Elicoor him and Maria seemed to have something between them, Fayt just wasn't sure what. It was strange. First Fayt was injured, now Maria although she was already healing. Even though his injury was more serious, a bruised/broken rib or two still worried Fayt. When one of the two teens was injured, it only seemed to bring them closer together.

Fayt could hear Maria breathing in the quiet room. His thoughts seemed to be echoing in his head because of the silence. _Cliff and Mirage said the Federation was after Maria too. They couldn't tell who she was? They'd want Sophia too, if they knew about her… I wonder what they want with us, though. With Maria and me…_ he slowly leaned into the side of the bed and ran his hand tenderly across Maria's milky cheek. He smiled. Just being near Maria made him happy. What could it be…? Was it… love?

Fayt sighed lightly, his breath blowing across Maria's bangs, making them sway slightly. He carefully got back up, not wanting to wake Maria, and left the room to let her rest. Just as he got outside of the door, he felt something latch onto him, wrapping its scraggly little arms around him. He looked down in alarm, about to yelp in surprise.

"Whozza..!" He spotted a brown head, which kept burying itself deeper into his stomach. He tried squeezing free of its grip, but to no avail. Finally, the hugging monster pulled its head up and Fayt could see a face. Not just anyone's face, but a certain annoying brunette's face. Honestly, as if I couldn't give enough clues; you all already know who it is now, right? "S-Sophia!" Fayt yelled, trying to keep his voice down.

"Oh, Fayt, I missed you so much! I was worried!" Fayt pulled free with too much force as Sophia let go and he stumbled backwards into the cold wall opposite Maria's room.

"Are you crazy? You nearly gave me a heart attack! I swear, I think you killed me back there or something!" Fayt yelled angrily. He could still feel his heart beating against his rib cage. You can't blame him. Leaving a quiet room, coming out into a 'what you think' is quiet hall, then have something hug you and feel like it's attacking you, would scare you too. Heck, it'd scare me.

"But I was worried!"

"Well I'll tell you one thing: you weren't half as scared as I just was over there!" He shook his head. "Just don't ever, _ever,_ do that _ever _again!" he breathed quickly, lowering his temper. Sophia kind of ignored him, though. She didn't care he was yelling and suffering the after shocks of a near heart attack, she still wanted him to get closer to her and say something cheesy like, 'Oh Sophia, how I've missed you too. Let's promise to never separate again!' and hug her. Or maybe something like, 'Oh, my love, come away with me on my magic steed! We shall live in peace without any one else in our lives!' I think that just made me gag… How many freaking fairy tales did she/does she read anyways! We all feel sorry for Fayt right now, don't we? I know I sure do.

"Oh Fayt… that whole time on Elicoor must've made you all tense. Here, lemme massage your shoulders for you." Sophia started to walk toward him with her hands out but Fayt shook his head violently and backed off from her against the wall as much as he could, until he was left no where to go except to slide against the wall.

"Ah hell no. I'm not staying." He then hurried to run away as Sophia ran after him. It was like some nightmare for him right now.

"Wait Fayt! Tell me about your brave journey!" She ran after Fayt, but when she turned a corner, he was no where to be found. "Ah poo… No matter, I'll just get him some other time." She said in a kind of evil psychotic way. As evil as she could get, anyways.

Fayt ran. _Fast._ Sophia seemed to be some form of new deadly bacteria. He didn't want her near him for fear of catching the bacteria. He had trouble tolerating her anymore. He couldn't understand how he could live with her in most of his life and not go totally crazy on her. She's been bringing up to many princess and prince stories not to long ago, too. It was getting scary. Maybe he should take Maria's advice and 'tell her off'? Fayt slowed down to a quick pace as he turned into a nearby door. Turned out to be the kitchen. Man, just where he didn't want to go. "Oh great…"

Nik turned around, the same look on his face as usual. Ah, Nik, Nik, Nik… please, don't say anything to upset Fayt. Too much more stress on that sweet heart of his and Luther only knows what is to happen. "Where in holy hell did ya just come from!" he asked in shock. Fayt sighed.

"I had to run away from someone. It's not like I **meant** to end up in here anyway! Why would I ever want to be in here, huh?" Nik held his hands up and shook them along with his head.

"Woah, woah… hey there, calm down now. I wasn' saying ya wanted ta stay here, anyways. Don't get all defensive 'bout nothin'." Fayt clenched his fists. Nik annoyed him for no reason at all. He himself couldn't even figure it out, but he wasn't giving in to whatever the thing was and becoming friends with Nik, or any type of acquaintance.

"Well, whatever. I'm leaving now." Fayt said rashly as he stormed out of the kitchen.

"Crazy idiot…" Nik said then returned to his work. _'Least he's okay…_

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Lieber walked through the halls, noticing a brighter feeling among them and the crew. He continued to walk until he spotted Fayt. Hey, if Fayt was here then… _Maria must be here!_ Lieber thought as he ran toward Fayt. He jumped again, startled by the sound of Lieber's ferociously approaching footsteps, then shook his hands in fury. Why was it that no one could leave him alone for five _fudrucking _minutes? Lieber came to an abrupt halt, nearly falling over.

"Hey! You're back! Well, who cares about you… WHERE'S MARIA! IS SHE HERE TOO? SHE BETTER BE HERE, TOO!" Fayt winced, his eardrums throbbing from Lieber's loud yells of excitement and anger at the same time. Although the last sentence is what someone should consider a threat…

"**Yes, she's here too! Just shut up!**" Fayt exclaimed. Lieber froze, about to ask another question. "Now leave.** Me**.** _Alone!_**" he then walked away, slamming his hard shoes against the floor beneath him, receiving slightly confused stares from surrounding people as his foot 'stomps' slightly echoed in the Diplo halls. I should stop tormenting him right about now, shouldn't I?

Fayt was at the boiling point by now. He was finally back at the Diplo; shouldn't he be able to rest by now? Well, it wasn't over yet. Who knew what the Federation was planning, anyways? He looked out the window halls at the space outside. It was so dark, so vast… the millions of stars shining. He looked further out and saw the planet that was occupied by the federation building. The planet resembled Earth, with a lot of water and huge patches of land. It was a small planet, though. Fayt wondered what else was on the planet besides the gigantic Federation Base. It took up well over one thousand hundred square feet.

Awkward… just simple thoughts like that seemed to calm him down some. He went back to his thoughts on everyone's next move. So… Maria was wanted by the Federation, for whatever reason. They were bound to pursue him and Maria. Running isn't the answer though; the reason why the Diplo was staying behind in the atmosphere of the planet. _They could attack any minute now with their airships now, couldn't they…?_

Well, Fayt decided to just let it leave his mind for now and get some rest. He was _beat._ He was off the Diplo for so long, fighting a tremendous amount of battles. That kind of thing tires people. Hey, even that would tire Albel… although we all know he would just deny it. Luckily, Albel, Nel, and Roger didn't really have to fight as much. Battles for Maria and Fayt: Irisa Fields, then Palmira Plains, then Irisa Fields again, and the Federation Base last. Albel, Nel, and Roger: Palmira Plains, then Irisa Fields. The Federation base counting as the guards, Doireter, and Krenel. Rather tiring, wouldn't you agree?

Fayt arrived in his room and laid down on his bed as he let out a huff of air in exhaustion. It felt so relaxing to be back on his soft bed again. His body may have been able to rest, but his mind was still wandering. _Hey, I'll have to let Maria know the Fed is after her when she wakes up, huh? Yeah, I should. I'll just tell her what Cliff and Mirage told me then all should be well… Hmm, the Fed, though. I just have this feeling they're going to do something drastic. Argh, Fayt, quit worrying yourself. All will be fine._ He sat up and looked around his room. He didn't just want to sit around doing nothing. Now, atleast. He just felt like talking with Maria, but she was asleep right now. It was a caution to leave his room, anyways--.

((dramatization))

_Voosh._ Fayt's head shot toward the door as it slid open. Luther no. "Fayt! There you are!" Sophia called out. Fayt felt chilling ripples of fear running up his spine. He immediately jumped up from his seat on his bed. There was no escape this time; Sophia was blocking his only exit to peace and sanity. "Come and give me another hug, Fayt!" She ran toward Fayt with her arms wide open. Fayt panicked as his eyes darted left to right. No! It couldn't end this way! Just as Sophia was leaping forward to hug him, Fayt jumped onto his bed and didn't even bother to stay behind as Sophia fell to the floor. He was long gone through the bedroom door.

He ran so quick to get away from her, but she was right behind him. _Dammit!_ "No! Don't get near me!" Fayt cried out in a desperate attempt to drive away the insane brunette.

"But Fayt! I love youuuu!" she cried back at him. Fayt shook his head violently. He ran down the hall even quicker. He turned his head around to yell at her while he ran.

"Well I don't--!"

**_BAM._** Straight into the cold, metal wall. Fayt was immediately knocked out as he fell backwards onto the even colder floor.

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Fayt opened his eyes as everything came in as blurry objects. His vision cleared and he sat up to see that he was in his room, in his bed, and Sophia sitting by him. _OH MY GOD! I MUST BE IN HELL!_ He thought frantically.

((back to normal drama level))

"Fayt, you're okay!"

"Yes, now go!"

"Fayt…" Fayt quieted down. Sophia's voice was calmer that time as she spoke quietly. "Why're you avoiding me?" she asked.

Fayt was in deep shi-, er… poo now. He couldn't just come flat out and tell her off. What was it that Maria said, anyway…? "Um, Sophia… listen." Sophia's eyes blinked in question. "Just leave me alone, okay? Go find someone else to bother." He stated. Sophia frowned. She just couldn't figure out why Fayt kept avoiding her.

"Why?" she asked, a squeak in her voice.

"Because."

"Because why?"

Fayt felt his muscles tense up. "Just because."

"Fayt Leingod!" Oh, man. Fayt hated when she used her 'motherly' stern voice. He rolled his eyes, and at that moment he noticed the bandage around his head when his eyes looked up. His eyes continued to look up at the visible part of the bandage as Sophia quickly began to lose patience. "Are you even paying attention!"

Fayt finally looked down and at Sophia. "No, why?" he inquired innocently. Sophia growled lightly in the depths of her vocal cords. Fayt mentally smiled evilly. This was turning out to be pretty fun, actually. He continued to keep his quiet demeanor.

"Fayt! Quit acting immature!" She retorted.

"Ooooh, 'immature', big word. Five points." Fayt said sarcastically, yet in a bored tone. He focused his vision elsewhere instead of Sophia's irritated face. Maybe if Fayt got Sophia to hate him enough, she would leave him alone. He then stuck his finger in his ear and began to move it around, pretending to clean it just to tick off Sophia. Well, it sure as hell was working.

"Oh, you're an idiot! Will you quit acting so stupid!"

Fayt then acted surprised. "Oh, hey! You put two sentences together! Applause to you." Fayt resisted from cracking up. Wow, if only he had a tape recorder. Sophia sighed as she tried to lower her temper.

"Whatever, Fayt." She said angrily. Well, now her desire to hug Fayt was far gone, and a new desire to pummel Fayt was arising. She thought of what to say, and Fayt was clearly becoming bored. He couldn't say anything to anger Sophia if Sophia wouldn't say anything. She just decided to try and make a normal conversation. Well, as normal as it could get. "So, Fayt…" Fayt then randomly pulled the bandage off his head and threw it at Sophia, who caught it while keeping her temper.

He turned his attention back to Sophia as his eyelids drooped over his eyes. "What?" He asked briefly.

"Do you love me?" she asked.

Fayt replied with one, simple word. "No." Sophia frowned, not taking it seriously.

She decided to ask another question, "Well, then, do you even love anyone?

"N-." Fayt froze, deciding to take this as another chance to mess with Sophia. "Hmm, maybe." He didn't really dig too deep into this question, but as soon as he replied, he began to think. Sophia just sat there, confused at Fayt's sudden loss of obnoxious dexterity as his thoughts wandered. _Do I love anyone… I never thought about it… **Do** I love anyone…?_ He closed his eyes.

"Who is it?" Sophia continued.

"I-I don't know…"

"How can you not know--."

"I just don't!" Fayt attempted to get up from his bed but a headache came over him and he kneeled on the floor. Sophia reached over for him, but he resisted. "Don't." he sternly commanded as he got back up and stormed out of the room.

Sophia looked down at the floor. Who got hurt more, here?

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Fayt walked slowly in thought around the halls. He felt slightly sick, but it didn't matter to him. He was going to figure out that question. _Stupid Sophia! Why did she ask that anyways! Now I'm all confused and flustered and, and…_ Fayt sighed. He heard light footsteps ahead of him and he raised his head to see Mirage heading toward him.

"Fayt? Shouldn't you be resting right now?" she asked, worry in her eyes.

Fayt shook his head. "I don't know… I can't… I… I…" Fayt couldn't think of what to say. He just stared down at the floor.

Mirage sighed. "Fayt, what's the matter? What happened?" Fayt looked up at her.

"Well, Sophia was asking if I loved anyone, and I was just kidding when I said 'maybe', but now I'm just thinking that perhaps that 'maybe' is a 'yes', and if so, who it is. I'm just really confused and I can't figure it out… I'm not even sure if I love anyone… Ah, geez, I sound so corny talking about my feelings." Fayt admitted, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

Mirage smiled. She could tell Fayt had feelings for someone, simply just by getting confused from such a simple question. She already knew who it was, but Fayt still couldn't realize it. She patted Fayt's back. "You'll figure out soon." She then turned around and walked away, leaving Fayt to dwell in his questions.

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**A/N:** I am _so_ sorry this took longer then usual! I just got real sick and couldn't type, and once I could, one of the cords for the computer I had this chapter saved on, was being used for something else. So I had to wait a couple of days before I could finally use it! Also, a lot of homework and er, laziness… Yes, I know, I should be punished for my laziness! Well, looks like the kiss isn't in this chapter, eh? I was debating about it with myself as I was typing, but I just decided to leave it for later… And sorry it's short… ((is terribly ashamed))

Aw, so sweet… Fayt's all confused over his feelings… Oh, Fayt, you're so oblivious! The one you love is Maria! We'll all just have to wait for him to realize this though, now won't we? Ah, and yes… I will also be taking a viewpoint of Maria's feelings, too. Just not sure how/when. I'll end the note by asking for a review. So, please review! Every time you guys review, I feel so happy and inspired to type more. Until next time!


	14. The Federation Attacks

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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean.

**A/N:** I already have in mind what's going to happen for the rest of the story. Now I just need to type it down. You guys may have noticed some Sophia bashing… that stops here. I only bash her for fun, but only Adray should receive that kind of treatment. Sophia'll never get what she wants, though, and neither will Lieber. Lieber is so jealous though, that it's pretty cute. Not much to say… just sorry for being lazy. I also have two other things to type too, though, so this might take even a little longer then what it's been usual. Another thing… I've no clue what I'm going to do with Nel and Albel at this point… ((still wants to stick with her idea of putting Nel with Clair)) Well… That's all I really have to say this time, so please read and enjoy.

**J.G. the Game Master:** Hahaha! Thanks so much for the review!

**Shadow Chakra:** Haha, I'm so sorry! I wanted the kiss too, but… Muwahaha! Oh well. I love FaytxMaria too, and I wouldn't mock your passion for it… yes, laugh at your disappointment… but no mocking. Yay! I'm a happy cow!

**asga:** Haha, Fayt… He will realize it soon.

**MelanieStar:** Yep… Hahaha… Oh, Fayt. It's so cute when he's confused. Thank you for the kind review!

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**_Chapter 14:_** The Federation Attacks

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Maria woke up in her bed and sat up, wondering what time it was. Well, not really the time… but how long she was asleep. Her rib didn't hurt anymore so she stood up and stretched her arms. She slipped on her shoes then walked toward the door. Just as she was about to exit it, the door opened and Fayt came walking in. He collided into her, sending her to the floor. "Oh, I'm so sorry Maria!" He yelled in apology. He quickly helped her to her feet.

She quickly regained her balance and looked up at Fayt. "Oh, hi Fayt… It's ok. I'm not hurt or anything…"

"Sorry…" Fayt apologized again. "Well, anyways. I um, I was just checking if you were awake yet. Now I know you are…" he said kind of foolishly.

Maria laughed lightly. "Apparently… Well, did you need something?" Maria asked, switching the topic. Fayt stood quietly. He looked down into Maria's face, just studying her expression and thinking at the same time. He sighed and closed his eyes as he turned his head away.

Maria frowned. She could tell something was bothering Fayt. She hated to see him in distress. "Fayt…" she held onto Fayt's arm and pulled lightly to get him to look at her. "Is… something the matter?" she asked softly. Maria's soft touch gave him some comfort, and her worried eyes only made him more upset. His confusion was upsetting Maria, and he didn't want that…

"I really don't know what the problem is… I'm just a little confused and lost, is all." Fayt spoke quietly.

Maria held his hand gently in both of hers as she said, "Whatever is confusing, I'll do what I can to help." She told him, trying to relieve some of his stress. Fayt shook his head.

"I don't know… I'm not too sure you would be able to help, really…" Maria nodded.

"Come sit down." She gestured. Fayt followed her to her bed and they both sat down. "Would you mind telling me what is upsetting you?" she asked in a caring tone. Fayt sighed again. He wasn't sure he should tell Maria. It would probably sound strange to her, or… wait, did Fayt love Maria? Was she the one he loved? It sure seemed like it. Fayt felt more for Maria than anyone else, ever. Just being by her made him feel more at home, even though he's light years away from it. Seeing her smile made him happy, being able to hold her in his arms… Fayt blinked. That was it… Fayt loved Maria, he was almost sure of it. But… he was afraid to tell Maria. He just couldn't…

Maria's worry grew as she saw Fayt's expression change from confusion to slight sadness and embarrassment. She gently laid her head on his shoulder and held onto his arm. She waited patiently, knowing Fayt would say something soon. The room remained quiet as Fayt thought and Maria lovingly stroked Fayt's arm. Fayt finally spoke up.

"Maria?" he said hoarsely. He coughed to clear his throat. Maria stopped stroking and looked up at him.

"Yes, Fayt?"

Fayt nervously said, "Well, er, I, um… you see…" Maria raised an eyebrow. What was he trying to say? "It's just… I think that I… I love…" he was cut off from an intercom on the ship's speakers.

"_Warning all Diplo crew members. A Federation air ship is coming toward us and preparing to fire. Prepare for a chance of impact."_ Maria gasped.

Fayt stood up along with Maria. "Damn… I knew they would attack. Hurry, let's get to the bridge." Maria nodded as they ran through the bedroom door and through the halls until they ended up at the bridge.

Maria ran up to Cliff and Mirage. "What's going on?" she asked.

Cliff turned around in his seat to face Maria. "The Fed sent a message saying they'll attack unless we surrender Fayt. Of course, we're not going to. We're gonna send you guys down back on the planet to fight the Fed, and destroy their base. We assume the leader may be down there, and if so and they're defeated, then they shouldn't be after you anymore. Well, that's what we hope… you, Fayt, Nel, Albel, and Roger, will have to hurry and infiltrate the base while we fight these bastards. Better go get ready so we can transport you off the ship before they fire--." Cliff stopped as he saw that the Federation ship sent a message. He turned back to face the screen and read the message. Mirage got off her seat and walked over to Cliff.

"Oh, no…" She said.

"Shit…" Cliff cursed. He turned back around as Mirage looked at Fayt and Maria. "Well… looks like they know we have you on board, Maria." Maria froze.

"They want me too? How come they didn't know who I was before?" Maria asked.

"Who knows. Maybe the people you two ran into were just idiots. Well, regardless now, they're saying that we surrender _both_ of you, or they'll attack. And now that they know who you are, you guys are gonna have more trouble fighting them down there." Cliff stated.

Mirage nodded. "Yes, so we need you all to be careful down there." At that point, Roger, Nel, and Albel appeared in the bridge.

Nel crossed her arms. "They're finally deciding to attack, huh?" she asked, although it sounded more like she was inquiring something.

Mirage replied, "Yes, but we've already a plan. We'll send all five of you down to infiltrate the Federation base and defeat who ever is the leader of all of this. And hopefully, you'll be able to destroy the base. While you guys are down there, we'll be fending off the federation up here. We'll just hope they don't know we sent you guys down and send some more troops after you." Mirage finished explaining.

Fayt nodded. "Good idea. We better get going now before they send attacks at us."

Mirage turned around and yelled out some commands, "Everyone, ready missiles and quantum torpedoes! Marietta, wire the transporter near the Federation base! We all may be fighting for a while now, so everyone keep up and continue to fight back!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Everyone in the bridge said.

Cliff said to the group, "You guys better come back alive, ya hear? Now, get going and get whatever you need before leaving. We're counting on you." All nodded then ran out of the bridge.

Xxxx

Now, Maria, Fayt, Albel, Roger, and Nel, were all going to infiltrate the Federation base. Lieber and Sophia were once again turning into their nervous wrecks, and everyone prepared for the Federation. And they came. Everyone on the planet took alert as they saw the gigantic Federation space ship rise into the sky. It flew straight toward the Diplo. It was an immense ship. Maria suspected it could be of the Federation's newest. New weapons, enhanced shielding, and a speed that overpowers other ships. They called it 'Soren'.

Everyone on the Diplo readied for attack. Everywhere on the ship loomed a tense atmosphere. Someone had to calm Sophia down. The Federation fired; surprisingly, it was only their weakest missiles. The Diplo's shield reflected it, luckily. Everyone back on the planet tried to not pay attention to the battle taking place far above their heads.

"Come on, let's hurry." Fayt said. The others quickly followed as they all rushed to the base. Roger held his chipped-for-a-while-now ax with fear. He was merely twelve, you couldn't blame him for being frightened. Even Fayt and Maria showed some fear. The Fed could've had even stronger enemies after them, this time. Nel and Albel had no fear, since they were basically trained to not show fear in the face of danger.

When they got to the huge building and stood by its towering, metallic walls, Maria looked back and across the outside walls. "Where will we get in?" she asked. They continued to walk against it. "We can't get in from where Fayt and I escaped. And I don't think that going through the 'front door' would be a good idea, either…"

"Maybe there's a backdoor, somewhere." Fayt said while they were walking.

"Of course there isn't--." Maria's sentence was cut short when she did, in fact, see a regular sized door. "Oh." Roger laughed. "Er, well, anyways… it'll probably be locked."

They all walked up to the door. A sliding door; no locks to easily open. Just as they suspected, it didn't open. Fayt sighed. Nel shook her head in dismay.

"Hmm… seems we can't get in this way." She said.

Albel finally decided to talk. These maggots weren't saying what he wanted to say, anyways. "Fools… just use Fayt's power to break it open."

"We can't do that!" Maria retorted. Roger thought.

"Hey… good idea. We can get in that way!" He said excitedly. Hey, Roger just agreed with Albel… does that mean Albel had no more reasoning than Roger did? Or was the end coming near…? Nel sighed.

"There could be alarms, no wait, I'm positive there're alarms. In fact, you can bet we are being watched with cameras right now." Maria said. Of course, they wouldn't've been able to see advanced security cameras.

Nel agreed. "Yes, the alarms." Fayt's eyebrows slanted upward as he set his hand to his chin.

"Well… yeah… and we wouldn't even know if the alarm was set off. There _are _silent alarms… and now that you mentioned the cameras, I'm feeling uncomfortable just standing here. And what if there are guards right past this wall?" Fayt stated. All but Roger and Albel agreed.

"Fine, then. Be my guest. Go find another entrance and waste precious time. That ship of yours up there isn't going to last long this way." Albel said coldly. Sadly, he was right.

Roger looked up at the door again. He had to arch his neck up pretty far to see the middle of the door. "We have to take the chance! We gotta defeat these guys! Come on, you buncha wimps!" he yelled out as he turned toward Maria, Fayt, and Nel.

Albel smirked. "For once, you actually have some brains…" he said. Roger frowned at this, like always.

"But…" the other three said.

"Still… well… okay. Any guards in there we can take on. We've five people… surely, there shouldn't be more. And besides, they're just guards. They're not anything like… hmm, the word… well, they're just minor." Maria said. Fayt looked down at the floor.

"Yeah… I don't want to, but I will. Everyone, back away. I'll see if I can conjure anything." Everyone else pulled back. Fayt walked straight up to the solid door. He felt his muscles tense up and his heart begin to hit against his chest. _Calm down… concentrate…_ Fayt held out his hand, and closed his eyes. He put all his focus and concentration into his power. He focused on his power. He focused on the blue ethereal light. Focused on it coming from his hand. Focused on the amount of power. Focused… Fayt had practiced before to control his powers. He was able to before, but not for long. It was only once and it was only practice. This time mattered: It mattered if he could pull it off.

The others remained quiet, letting Fayt have all the silence and concentration he needed, and he needed all that he could get. A minute passed. A faint glow, but nothing. Fayt finally opened his eyes as he sighed. "I can't…" Maria walked up to him.

"Maybe… if I lend you some power, if I help you, maybe you can do it." She looked up at him with hope in her eyes. Fayt breathed warily. What if he hurt Maria? What would happen when two different powers were connected? Dr. Leingod had probably never thought of it. They had to try though for their, Sophia's, and the Diplo's sake.

"Maria, it's dangerous…" Fayt protested.

"Please, Fayt. We have to. We've no time." Fayt heard the shakiness in her voice. She really wanted to, no matter how dangerous.

"Maria…" he closed his eyes as he thought, then opened them again, "Alright, but… I just don't want you getting hurt…" He said nervously. Maria held his hand.

"Don't worry, I won't." Fayt nodded as he raised his hand back up to the door. They both closed their eyes, Maria concentrating on lending her power, and Fayt concentrating on using his power. The others watched in caution, prepared if anything were to happen.

Nel could see Roger shaking out of the corner of her eye. She just wanted to whack him hard. His shakiness will give off bad vibes… Er, somehow. Albel watched in silence.

Fayt felt his hand that was holding Maria's start to burn, but not enough as to have him pull away. He could feel the energy flowing through his arm. He imagined it, set all his focus, to blasting down the door. The others could see a blue light start to encircle Fayt's raised hand. The signs span around, increasing in brightness and strength.

Finally, the door came blasting inward toward the floor with a huge thud. The frayed metal that was holding the door was now smoking and blackened. Maria opened her eyes as a smile came over her face. "We did it Fayt!"

Fayt smiled too. "Yeah, but we better hurry. I can just tell something is going to happen." The rest of the party followed as they all hastily entered the building, stepping on the knocked down door. It made clanking noises, but they quickly jumped off it and looked back and forth the hall. It was clear; not a guard in site. Albel glared down the halls. He didn't like the looks of this.

"Where are all the bad guys?" Roger asked. Nel held her hand to her mouth.

"I don't know, but it's some kind of trap, I just know it…" Maria and Fayt continued to look back and forth, across the halls.

"Where to now?" Fayt asked Maria.

Maria sighed as she shook her head. "I don't know… let's just go somewhere. Everyone, prepare for whatever battles may lie ahead."

Xxxx

"Mirage, damage report!" Cliff yelled out in the bridge. Everyone was trying their best to keep up with the battle. Mirage looked at her screen then turned to Cliff.

"Shield functions down to 87 percent!" Mirage replied back.

Cliff nodded. "Good, that should last us until Fayt, Maria, and the others take down the base!"

Sophia ran around the halls of the Diplo. "Ohhhh Fayt…! Poor Fayt! There's mean guys down there! What if he gets caught? Oh, no oh, no oh, no oh noooo…" She said in panic. Lieber did the same, but turned his worry toward Maria.

"Ohhhh Maria…! Poor Maria! There's tough guys down there! What if she gets captured? Oh man oh man, oh man man maaaann…" Both worry-warts stopped to look at eachother.

"Maria? What about Fayt!" Sophia asked.

Lieber snorted. "So…"

Sophia scowled.

"What about Maria!" Lieber asked.

Sophia snorted. "So…?"

Then Lieber scowled… and yes, this is meant to be repetitive. "That annoying Fayt's trying to steal _my_ Maria!" Lieber yelled in frustration. Sophia looked the other way as she crossed her arms.

"Oh, really now? Well, that wretched Maria's trying to steal _my_ Fayt!" Sophia scowled.

"The changes of you and Fayt hooking up… Hey wait one goddamn minute…" Lieber froze as he turned toward the narrator. "Haven't we fought about something like this before…?" him and Sophia eyed the narrator. The narrator began to panic. She feared that one day the Star Ocean characters would one day riot back in an angry fury of what she's made them do…!

"Yeah, you're right!" Sophia agreed. "WAIT! Now she just made us agree… Get her!" Sophia pointed at the narrator.

The narrator yelled out, "No! Spare my meaningless life! (Oh, wow. Yeah, that'll _really_ convince them…)" She ran for her life as tears were left in her tracks. Lieber somehow got a hold of a **metal** bat and ran after her in crazed psychotic anger.

And so… they chase her… through the Diplo… as a battle raged outside… and I feel I'm insulting myself so I'll stop this part right here…

Xxxx

The party back in the Federation base ran through the halls, trying to find where the main office was. There weren't any guards, though! Where could they be? And what were they planning? Fayt's eyebrows furrowed as his confusion grew over the endless halls.

They ran straight past one door that was larger than an elephant, then all stopped in unison as their faces froze. "I bet we just passed the door… huh…?" Nel asked.

Albel sighed. "…Yep…" Everyone else then sighed as they turned around.

"Well, we can hope it's the right door… because I can't take this 'roaming-around-and-getting-nowhere' thing." Fayt said exhaustedly. They all walked up to the door. Fayt banged on it, kicked it, anything to make it move. Well… Fayt… that's not really going to work… yet, he tried. "It's locked…"

"And yer just figurin' this out _now_?" Roger asked as he smirked at Fayt's glare.

"There's got to be a way to open this thing. I mean like… really. There is no door that can't be opened. That's why they're called _doors_." Maria stated. She walked up to the door and studied it until she spotted a small square to the side of it, different from the rest of the wall. She walked over to it then ran her hand along the indented grooves in the wall. She stopped her hand and slipped her fingers behind the groove. "This opens somehow. I can tell. But I don't know how to." Albel walked up to it.

He then randomly pulled his sword out and stuck it in the groove. "Albel!" Nel yelled. He then pushed the sword upward and the metal covering fell off the wall. "Eh… okay, I guess that works."

"Hmph." Albel said as he put his sword back. Maria rubbed her head then went back to the wall. A computer; just as she suspected.

"I have to type in a password…" Maria pressed a key and a message popped up and read aloud what is said. "'No, we will not tell you what the password is! It's a guard's duty to remember, and if he forgets (you) then we'll just fire your ass.'" Maria raised an eyebrow. "Wow… these guys sure keep it uptight around here. That seemed a bit rude though… oh, wait, there's more. 'We'll give you one clue, and one clue _only_! What does UP3 stand for?" Fayt immediately spoke up.

"Underdeveloped plant preservation pact!" Maria laughed.

"Of course _you_ would know… As Cliff said, 'Mr. Square champion of the UP3'." Fayt pouted. Maria turned back toward the computer and typed in what Fayt said. "Yes! It worked!" Everyone stood back as the door opened. Who knew what lied beyond it…Well, everyone was just hoping it was the stupid main office.

Xxxx

**A/N:** Oh, forgive me! Please, forgive me…//runs away from rotten tomatoes/ Yes, sadly, I got kind of really super lazy, and I was doing other stuff instead of writing… /cringes/ oh man, the truth is only going to get me killed… but I'm being honest with you guys! Won't that spare some of my life…? Guess not.

Well, now, this chapter got pretty random… Um… yeah. I hope it didn't suck! And I hope the cliffhanger ((haha, CLIFF)) won't get me killed/murdered/decapitated/something else. Oh… and… I should also apologize for having the stupid intercom interrupt Fayt's confession of love to Maria…? And apologize for once again NOT having them kiss. Now, what else is there to apologize about…? Ah, yes… this chapter is short! I'm sorry, but it had to be cut here for some reasons! I don't know what those reasons are… but… oh, I'm pathetic! I better get my butt back into gear to get the next chapter done before Christmas. It can be my gift to all of you…! Yes, yes, I am an idiot. There is another reason why this wasn't up sooner… I have overwhelmed myself in a lot of other stories. One shots and epics. Not just the new stuff, but I was typing up a new chapter for my older story. So, I apologize once again! And I'm okay if you all hate me forever now… /sniff/.


	15. Fooling the Eyes

Xxxx

Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 and all related trademarks do not belong to me.

**A/N:** I feel so hurt, thinking that some of you thought I had abandoned this fanfiction. Out of all the A/Ns saying how much I love this story and how happy the reviews make me, you would think that…? I would never do such a thing! Now, I actually had a reason for not typing; the night I was going to start typing up this chapter, my stupid house catches fire. Good thing none of the computers were damaged, in fact… good thing nothing of mine was damaged! Only the ceiling, roof, and part of the living room were damaged. But after the fire, I hadn't been able to access either one of my computers. I've had them for over a week now, so I'll be honest… I didn't start typing when I had the chance right away. But this would've been done long ago if it wasn't for the fire. I hope there are still some of you out there bothering to read this… /sigh/

I'm thinking that there are about 2-5 chapters left. Hmm… I'll be amazed and relieved when the story if finally over. And you guys will be relieved too, since Fayt and Maria will finally get together. Now, Albel, Nel, and Clair… /frustration/

Xxxx

_Chapter 15:_ Fooling the Eyes

Xxxx

Roger seemed as though he was a squirrel; a squirrel ran straight over with an eighteen wheeler truck. His eyes were huge, nearly bulging out of his eye sockets. The room was huge. Equivalent to about ten living rooms and shallow stairs leading up to machines. The group looked around the room. It sure seemed like a main office, with computers and other electronic machines lined up against the wall. One problem though: the room was empty. There wasn't a single employee. Another trap, perhaps? This building was filled with more traps than the party could've expected.

"This doesn't seem right," Nel pointed out to the others. They all nodded in agreement.

"Should we take some steps forward?" Maria asked warily. Fayt looked around again.

"Alright, but watch out. Get your weapons ready…" Fayt warned. They all began walking when they heard the door behind them slide open then close. They all turned around in alarm to meet a woman with wavy brown hair that came down to her knees. She had piercing blue eyes, scarlet lips, and wore silver dress-like clothes. A gray jacket with a collar and white lining overlapped the dress. A zipper came down the front of the dress, adding more to the shining reflections.

"Now, now… Don't think so lowly of us. As if we would surprise attack you. That's for cowards," she spoke, almost tauntingly. Albel snorted. He already hated the looks of this annoying woman. "All we want are Fayt Leingod and Maria Traydor. Is that too much to ask for?" No one answered. All were wary of what trick she could pull. "There's nothing to fear…" she then snapped her fingers as she ordered: "Maraten, Sere, come in here, please."

Two men came through the door, almost identical. They were clothes similar to Doireter and Krenel, yet they each had a different hairstyle. The taller one, Maraten, had short hair and very few strands hanging in front of his face. The other, Sere, had slightly longer hair that was neatly laid across his head. "Are these people the ones?" Sere asked, his voice deep yet soft.

The woman nodded. "Indeed they are, I'm just not sure which ones." Maria shifted in her shoes uncomfortably. Then, the woman acted as if she had made a discovery, covering her mouth and gasping. "Oh, how terribly rude of me! It seems as though I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Rhedine. No need for anything like Ms. or Mrs., just Rhedine will do."

Fayt furrowed his eyebrows. _Rhedine … I don't like the looks of her. I know she's planning something. She had best quit with the nice act. I know what she really wants,_ he angrily thought.

"Sere," she gestured him to step forward, "could you company these wonderful guests to their room?" At that point, the whole party had an expression of dumb-struck written across their faces. All were confused now. Why in the world would an enemy, first: not attack, second: introduce themselves politely, and third: give them a room to stay in? They could all smell something tricky being brewed up.

"Wh-wha?" Fayt managed to choke out. Rhedine turned to face him.

"Hmm?" She tilted her head. "Well, you're guests. You should have a room, shouldn't you? Unless you prefer sleeping on the hard floor?" Albel scowled.

"Don't play stupid!" he snarled. "You're not going to trick us so you better pull out your weapon right here, right now!"

Rhedine shook her head. "So irrational. Can't you see? We don't want to fight. We simply want you to enjoy yourselves. No need for harsh words," she pouted.

"Is that so?" Maria spoke up. "Then how come you sent your idiotic guards, Krenel and Doireter, after us! How come we had to fight them? How come _you_ didn't stop them?" she barked out, demanding answers. Rhedine crossed her arms.

"Krenel and Doireter acted on their own will. I told them not to attack, but they insisted on capturing you their way--," Rhedine cleared her throat, "Ah, actually… They just wanted to capture you. I tried to convince them that we could reason it out with you people, but they were far too stubborn. It seems all of their power got to their heads. And don't worry, they aren't here right now. They won't attack again."

Fayt's suspicion grew. He could tell Rhedine was lying. If Doireter and Krenel went out of their own way to capture Fayt and Maria, how would Rhedine have captured them? She would have had to use force also. Plus, Doireter and Krenel seemed pretty intent on capturing them. They wouldn't have wanted to do that on their own with such intention. They must've been commanded from the sidelines.

The party was silent again. Rhedine turned to face her minions, "One of you please escort them to their rooms now."

"Right away," Sere replied. He walked ahead of the group and gestured for them to follow. Nel stared suspiciously at him. "Please, come this way."

Fayt spoke quietly so that only the party could hear, "Let's follow up with this… We'll plan something after we get into our rooms…" The others nodded slightly. They began to follow Sere. As soon as they were all out of the main office, Rhedine turned towards Maraten, "Watch the hallways. Make sure they don't pull anything or try and escape. We _will_ get them to cooperate, whether they like it or not."

"Yes, ma'am. Of course. We shall get Leingod and Traydor to work with us."

Xxxx

Mirage opened up the video screen. The Federation had requested to speak with them. The whole bridge looked up at the screen. "_We wish to retreat. We've no need to fight anymore_," a man in a suit spoke. Everyone in the bridge stared in question. "_Unless you want your ship destroyed, then we suggest you also stop fighting."_

"What about--," before Mirage could finish her question, the screen had already closed and everyone could see the Federation ship retreating. It was a good and bad thing. Good thing: The battle stopped ((their shield was down to twenty percent)). Bad thing: Now everyone was unsure of the fate of the others in the base.

"Hey, Mirage… Do you think they're alright? Why would they pull back unless they had Fayt and Maria in possession?" Cliff asked. Mirage shook her head.

"I don't know, but, they have to be alright. They have Albel, Nel, and Roger with them. We can assure their safety," she spoke calmly.

"Well, yeah. You never know, though. Maybe we should call them. Do they have their communicators?"

Mirage sighed. "No, and even if they did, we couldn't reach them with the base's shield. Remember? It blocks out all non-related transmissions. There's no way to check on them. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens while hoping for the best."

Cliff rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah…"

Xxxx

Mirage had announced the Federations retreat on the speakers. It left all of the crew confused and concerned for Fayt and Maria's safety, especially… Yes, Sophia and Lieber. They were now nervously pacing the halls of the Diplo, occasionally running into eachother.

"Oh, Maria…"

"Oh, Fayt…"

"**PLEASE BE OKAY!**" they both yelled synchronously at the ceiling, holding their heads in panic. They slouched down with sorrow written on their faces. Lieber looked up at Sophia.

"You know…" Lieber began, "I _do_ want Fayt to be safe, just far away from Maria."

Sophia blinked in confusion. He was… nice to Fayt! "Yeah…" Well, if he said something nice, she might as well too, " I want Maria to be safe, too, just as long as she avoids Fayt." Both nodded in agreement for once.

Sophia turned to face Lieber, "I'm sorry, for the things I've said and done before. It was too rude. Maria and Fayt are out there fighting, and here we are, bickering like young children. We need to act mature. We need to support them and wish for their safety. With the way we're acting, we can't do any of that. Want to come to a truce?" Sophia finished her short speech, hoping for a good reply.

Lieber was honestly shocked. He didn't know the brunette was capable of such reasonable words. Maybe she wasn't an annoying, prissy, snot-faced, selfish bitc--. Ahem, yes… She wasn't that bad. Maybe now it was his turn to act mature. "Of course. We both want the best, and I'm sorry, too. There was no reason for acting like such idiots before," he said. Both paused. What now? Were their squalls over for good? " It's useless, isn't it?"

Sophia raised her eyebrows in question, "What is?"

"Maria and Fayt… I don't think they'd pay much attention to us. We've annoyed them so much – and don't deny you have – that I don't think they care that much for us. We've known them for pretty long, and that's probably the only reason why they've been able to stand us without snapping at us, or something," he finished.

Sophia sighed, a frown upon her face. "You're absolutely right, but you never know… We wouldn't go so far as to try and breaking them up, either. It wouldn't work."

"Yeah… Hey, I heard Albel tried that back on Elicoor while Maria and Fayt were there. I always knew with those womanly clothes, fair skin, and hatred toward everyone except Fayt, that he wasn't the type to like girls…"

Sophia felt herself blushing. So, Albel was…? And he was after _Fayt!_ Impossible! What's worse is what if he _did_ succeed in stealing Fayt? "Oh, my, God…" she coughed. "Are you sure of that? Are you positively sure? I mean, not the whole break-up thing, but that he's…?" she trailed off, blushing even harder.

"It seems possible, doesn't it? Who knows, maybe he likes both," Lieber guessed. Wait… Sophia and Lieber both froze. What in the world were they _doing_! Talking about Albel's sexuality? If he knew…

"Can we please stop this conversation here?" Sophia asked, with still a frozen expression. Lieber nodded shakily.

"Yeah. B-besides… It's making me uncomfortable…" he clenched his hands. _Where in the hell did that even spawn from! We must be insane…_ Sophia coughed some more, trying to clear the shakiness out of her voice. Just the image of Albel chasing after Fayt with arms outstretched and a look full of lust gave her the shivers.

Xxxx

Sere stopped in front of a door. "Here is where the ladies will stay." Maria and Nel detached themselves from the party and waited by the door. "Go on in. The men will be right over here," Sere told them. They watched as the rest followed him to another door just two doors away from theirs.

"We're sneaking into their room afterwards to create a plan," Maria whispered to Nel.

Nel nodded. "Okay, let's go in here for now and wait for Sere to leave. I just hope no one suspects our schemes…" They walked in and waited by the door.

"Here is where you three will stay," Sere told the rest. Albel remained with a scowl on his face. Oh how badly he wanted to pull out his katana and take a few slashes at these maggots in this stupid building. Roger looked at the door then back up at Sere. Fayt nodded and watched as Sere walked away. As soon as the man was around the corner, the three of them made a dash for the other room. They ran through the door where Maria and Nel were standing right by and bumped into them.

"Hey, watch it!" Nel scolded them. They hurried into the room and waited for the door to close before talking.

"I can tell something is up," Fayt began.

"Me too. I don't like the looks of this… We have to find a way to stop their plans. Who knows what may happen if we let them have us. These Federation people aren't the nicest ones around…" Maria said.

Albel crossed his arms, "Hurry up and think of something, as long as it involves slitting these worm's throats."

"Don't be so brutal. We need to think of something that will work. Is there a way to destroy their base?" Nel questioned.

Fayt looked down at the floor as he thought. "There should be… but if we do that, there can still be others after us. We have to stop them completely, we have to eliminate their plans with us. Hey, Maria… What if we show ourselves useless to them? We can lie not having any special powers… Wait… that may not work." He was right. It most likely wouldn't work. The Federation already knows about their powers and can find some way to exploit them without Fayt and Maria's permission.

They all pondered over a way of stopping the federation.

"If we destroy the place, then everyone in it will die, won't they?" Fayt asked.

Roger looked up at him, "Yeah… but that would stop them, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose…" Fayt agreed.

Nel placed her hands on her hips. "They're the enemy, Fayt. We have to do something without any sympathy towards them. In doing so, we can stop them. If you want to get through this without hurting anyone, then you'll just end up hurting us all." Harsh words from a harsh warrior.

Fayt frowned. Maria set her hand on his shoulder. "Fayt…" she spoke softly, "I know this is hard, but it may be our only choice. I believe that if this is the main building for all of the federation, even if there are others, we can destroy any information along with the building itself. If their computers are fried, they won't be able to track us down. Wait…" Maria paused. Fayt knew that look; she had an idea. "That's just it! We'll destroy all their data, including their computers on their ships. Since all of the Federation sources are connected, if one thing if affected, then all of it will be! Their ships will stop functioning so they can't chase us, and they'll have no computers. I don't know how long it would last, but it would take them ages to rebuild all of it and gather all of their information. I don't know how many people have heard of us or know of our powers, but if we can destroy this place alone, we'll be affecting a great number."

"Maria… you're a genius! We just have to hope it works," Fayt felt some hope in winning this battle after all.

The Elicoorians got somewhat lost in all the technological talk, but by the bluenette's expressions, they must've solved their question. Maria said, "Yeah… We'll have to lay low for a long time, though. That would mean… leaving Quark. If I leave it… I may disband it. It might be hard to keep a low profile, but if no one can recognize us, we should be safe."

"Disband Quark…? But it means so much to you, doesn't it? How would the others feel?" Fayt asked sadly, as if it pained him to hear that.

"Once we've gotten rid of the Federation, there wouldn't be much of a reason for Quark anymore. I know that it's been around for a while, but… Everyone should get back to his or her own lives. Quark has taken so much of it. I'm sure a lot of the crewmembers must miss their families. Don't worry… I'll explain to them once all of this is over…" Maria looked down at the floor. She, too, looked sad. Disbanding Quark… Not seeing everyone on it as often, and maybe never seeing some of them again… "I'll… I'll need some time to think… But, right now, we just need to stop the Federation. I can't be thinking of my feelings. It's selfish…"

"You're not being selfish. You're considering what the other's would feel. I know it's difficult to solve… but you're right. We have to stop the Federation right now," he tried comforting her.

"So, I have it we have the first part of our plan figured out?" Nel asked.

"Yes… I'll find a way to shut down all of the Federation's systems. You guys will probably have to watch out for guards," Maria said.

"What about that Rhino or whatever-her-name-is person?" Albel asked the group.

"Since it seems like she's of the highest rank here, we'll have to eliminate her first," Maria informed them.

Fayt raised an eyebrow, "Highest ranking?"

"Yeah. The way she commands Sere and that other guy. Also, with Doireter and Krenel. She seemed to have control over them. Maybe she's the leader of the whole Federation…"

"…Or maybe there' someone higher than her," Fayt continued. "I can imagine a leader with all control and more secretive. If they can control the whole Federation, don't you imagine Rhedine with more power? If there is, we'll have to find them after the systems are shut down--," Fayt was interrupted when the door slid open.

Maraten stood in the doorway, "…What's going on here?" he asked. Everyone turned to face him.

"Eh… just a friendly visit," Roger said. Albel glared at the minion in the doorway.

"Rhedine will want to speak with you soon, so get back to your original rooms."

"We don't have to listen to you, fool," Albel spat. Maraten stared at him.

"Listen to what I say or you'll regret it."

That was it. Albel couldn't stand the people here. "Want a fight!" he growled. Fayt held him back.

"No, Albel… Let's just do as he says," Fayt spoke under control. Albel sent one more glare before walking past Maraten and to the other room. Roger and Fayt quickly followed. As Fayt was leaving, he put his hands behind his back so Maraten couldn't see. He held four fingers out on one hand and used the other to point at his wrist. Both girls noticed. He then left and Maraten came out from the doorway. The door closed and Maria turned to Nel right away.

She quietly told her, "I think Fayt was saying he wants us out in four minutes. Or… Maybe to check for the guard in four minutes. It's one of those."

"Either way, we'll have to be cautious. He probably wants us to try the plan when we gather back out in the hallway," Nel said.

Xxxx

"They're planning to shut down the whole system, Rhedine," Maraten told the head of the building.

Rhedine raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really now…" she said inquisitively. "As if they can really take us down. We'll stop them, and if they still won't cooperate, we have other means of making them."

Maraten nodded. "Indeed. We won't loose to a couple of weaklings. Should you call in some reinforcements for when they come?"

"I don't think that will be necessary, just make sure Sere is here and be prepared for them. Although I doubt it should be much of a fight…" Rhedine doubted.

Maraten then left to go fetch Sere. Rhedine smirked. She knew that Maria and Fayt would revolt, she just didn't expect them to come up with a plan so quickly and easily. It was rather entertaining, though. They were almost like mice in an experiment, the test subjects, and she was manipulating them and discovering results.

Meanwhile, Maria counted down the last of the minutes and slowly stuck her head out the door. Good, the coast was clear. She motioned for Nel to follow. And they both snuck out of the room. Fayt, Albel, and Roger soon came out of their room. They hurried over and Fayt began to speak:

"Good, you understood what I meant. Now, are you all ready? We're going to hurry before they can catch on…" everyone nodded. They ran towards the office, watching for guards along the whole way. As they neared the door, they group slowed down.

"Hey, Fayt… What if they figured out? They could have top security systems installed here. Maybe they're already prepared to attack us…" Maria said.

"I guess we'll just have to take our chances… So, everyone, be prepared…"

Xxxx

**A/N:** Nehehe… Once again, a cliffhanger. My… I'm still terribly sorry for such the late update. As I said in the first A/N, though, I didn't have any access to either of my computers. Can you guys guess what happens next? Honestly, I'm not sure… That's kind of why I ended it here, so I can have some time to think without delaying this chapter more than it already was. I hope you're happy I finally updated, though. I worked hard on this chapter, and I finally have all the story left in my head.

Also… the humor is leaving this fanfic again. It may not return, this time. The plot is getting just a little bit deeper, and when that happens, there isn't much space left for humor. It kind of ruins the 'mood'… Please, oh please review! The more reviews, the quicker Chapter 16 is finished. Until next time…!


	16. An Old Foe Gone and New One Awaits?

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Disclaimer: Star Ocean 3 does not belong to me. Doireter, Krenel, Maraten, Sere, and Rhedine all belong to me, however.

**A/N:** Behold… I am back! I had a sudden urge of confidence one afternoon and decided… I need to write more! I simply haven't been writing enough and some inspirations are coming back to me… I know what I want in this chapter (mostly) and the story may end in the next chapter… Oh, man. I hope not… I at least want one chapter after that.

I'm terribly, terribly sorry for not updating sooner! I really do hope that some of you still even care for this story… Well, here's chapter 16. Please enjoy!

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_Chapter 16: _An Old Foe Gone and a New One Awaits?

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The group walked through the hallway they knew led to the huge main office. With weapons prepared and readied to fight, they walked in, the door sliding across.

There was Rhedine… along with Maraten and Sere. Just as the party had thought; they knew of their plans. Even so, they weren't going to lose.

"So, you're going to attempt to take us down, are you?" Rhedine asked. Just hearing her voice was enough to set Albel's nerves on end. She _really_ annoyed him.

"Yeah, and we won't lose, either!" Fayt's strong voice rang through the huge room. Rhedine laughed quietly to herself as she let out a sigh and she shook her head.

"Looks like someone has a huge ego, huh?" she sneered as she pulled out a gun from its carrier on the side of her hip. She pulled it up and grinned. "If you're so convinced you can win… prove it." Maraten and Sere ran in opposite directions, each clutching their guns. The guns were more powerful than Doireter's and Krenel's.

Rhedine kneeled on the floor and aimed her gun right at Fayt. Fayt jumped out of the way just as she fired and rolled sideways on the floor before shooting up and running with his sword at her. She got up and fired again but missed him as he ducked and jumped. Rhedine used her gun to block his slash, sending him 2 feet backwards. Roger ran up beside Fayt with his ax in hand and sense-of-victory in his eyes. They were going to win… and he would help! Fayt took another hit at Rhedine but she blocked again. Roger took his chance to attack with his axe but barely dealt any damage. Rhedine pulled back. "Is that the best you can do?"

Albel went charging for Sere. He wanted to attack all of them but knew that was impossible when there was only one of him. He came charging, katana in hand and claw ready to slice. Sere dodged Albel's attack and took a shot at him. With his speed and maneuverability, he easily dodged it. He took a strike at Sere with his claw, barely scarping his sleeve. Both hastily jumped back, keeping up their guard.

Maria and Nel were dealing with Maraten, double-teaming up against him. He was swift, however, and hard to deal blows to. Nel used all her skill from training on Elicoor II as so did Maria from learning from Mirage. Fortunately, each girl was swift and could dodge attacks with barely a scratch. Nel came running at Maraten, her daggers each readied. He turned around to face her and just as he did that, Maria fired a shot at him. He ducked and kicked his leg outward and tripped Nel. Nel went stumbling but quickly got up just in time to dodge another shot.

Fayt had a battle of his own with Rhedine. Him and Roger tried all they could to deal damage but were quickly becoming exhausted. They fought with all their strength, but she was definitely the most powerful of all the Federation they've fought so far. She was proving to be a hard opponent.

They weren't giving up, though. No matter how challenging they were, they kept on fighting. Albel wasn't going to lose to some "annoying maggot", as he called Sere. His need to win was stronger than ever since he knew of what would happen if they failed; Fayt and Maria would be taken in and they would've failed brining them back to safely and defeating the Federation. Failure was not an option. With this in mind, he went charging for Sere. Sere shot but Albel was barely inflicted by the beam as he leapt through the air and brought his katana down, slicing Sere's arm. He knelt down and held his arm as the blood trickled down. He wasn't going to lose… he possibly couldn't! His arm was hurt terribly though and could barely move it. Albel loomed over him and pointed his katana at Sere's heart. "You wouldn't…"

"No," Albel replied, his voice harsh yet calm. "I would, but I won't. Instead…" with all his force, he drove his metal plated shoe into Sere's gut, forcing him to cough and cringe in pain.

"You won't win… bastard…" he last said before passing out, his arm bloodied. Albel snorted in satisfaction. Now, to get rid of that other jerk, Maraten.

Maria shot continuous shots at Maraten, who only flipped in the air and out of the way, a couple of times. Nel used symbology, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect on him. He only had a couple of scratches while Maria and Nel were becoming weary and tired. Albel ran up to them, some of Sere's blood on his sword, and yelled to them, "One of you go help Fayt!" Nel nodded and went running, leaving Maria and Albel to fight Maraten. He was more toughly built than Sere. No problem… Albel made a run at Maraten while Maria circled them and shot at Maraten. He received some injuries here and there, but still kept fighting. "I'm not going down! Just give up!"

"Give up?" Maria yelled in reply, shooting at him again. This time hitting him.

Albel scowled. "You only want us to give up because you're losing!" At that, he charged at Maraten and brought his claw through his chest. He cut him (not deep enough to kill) then stepped back and watched as he fell to the floor on his knees. He held his hand to his chest and pulled back to see some blood.

"We'll… get you back…" Maria dealt the knockout to the side of his head. He fell to the floor unconscious. Hey, you couldn't be kind to the enemy, especially when they're trying to capture you.

"Let's go help Fayt!" Maria called out as her and Albel ran to the battle with Rhedine.

She still wasn't being weakened. Infact, she looked more lively than ever. The battle must've riled her up.

Roger took a shot from her gun. Luckily, it hit his helmet, but he was critically damaged. Nel tried to heal him but Rhedine got another shot. She noticed, though, that she shots weren't enough. Physical strength would be needed. Everyone watched in confusion as she put her gun away. "This simply won't due…" she turned around to see Sere and Maraten on the floor with wounds on them. "How pathetic… they couldn't even handle you pathetic beings. You maybe be stronger than them, but you still won't lose to me," she hissed. She ran at Fayt and punched him in the stomach before the others could do anything. He landed to the floor, trying to get back up. He weakly held his sword in his hands and panted for breath. "See? No match. Just surrender."

"Never will we surrender to the likes of you!" Albel spat out as he went for a hit. Rhedine dodged it with such speed that you missed her movement in the blink of an eye. Albel turned around and was able to hold his sword up to block her blow, but he was still sent flying to the floor. He landed with a huge thud, has back hitting the cold floor. He shakily sat up and attempted to get up but fell back down to the floor. He couldn't lose.

Maria, Nel, and Roger tensed up. If she could take out Fayt, let alone ALBEL, then she could take them all out too. Roger was too injured to get up. Maria had some skills with fighting that didn't involve a gun, too. Was she enough, though? She came up from the side and brought her knee up to kick, but Rhedine stopped her as she turned around and caught her by the leg. No one had ever done that before! How was she so strong and quick? "You must be Maria… your skills are no match, little girl…" then she let go of her leg and instead gave _her_ a kick, right in the stomach. She went flying back into the floor. Fayt, who was watching, became angry. How could he hurt Maria like that? How could he hurt all his friends? Could he do nothing? He watched as Rhedine took Nel out, too. She didn't even bother with Roger.

She placed her hands on her hips and she smiled in success. "You fools don't listen… I told you couldn't win." Fayt looked around the room. Albel was panting, his head sunk low. He looked so hurt, having lost a battle. Nel too, was trying to sit up, pain stricken across her face. Roger never looked so broken-spirited before, and Maria… Fayt's hear wrenched to see her beaten up and broken down like that. They weren't loosing… They **_can't_**…!

Fayt felt a surge of energy as he stood up. Rhedine turned to face him, confusion written across her face. "How dare you hurt my friends… how dare you hurt Maria… You think you can get away with this!" he yelled, his eyes starting to glow. Rhedine pulled back, now obviously panicked.

"What's--!" Fayt's anger grew as he held out his hand, palm facing Rhedine. His hand glowed, or more like the symbols swarming around it. This was a less intense use of his power, just like with destroying the door to enter the base. Maria had helped him before by helping him channel and control his powers. This time, she wasn't really helping, but he somehow had her support, and seeing her hurt gave him the control he needed. Rhedine pulled back some more. The symbols became larger, harboring some of the power. At long last, the power fired out, striking Rhedine and slamming her into the opposite wall ten feet away from the main computer. She left a dent in the wall as she fell forward and hit the floor. She tried pushing herself up using her arms but failed as she spoke in a raspy voice, "Don't think… you won…" before passing out on the floor.

Fayt's eyes returned to normal as he fell back to the floor. The others in the room managed up. Maria ran to Fayt and knelt by him. "Fayt… are you alright…?" Fayt looked at Maria then held her into an embrace.

"Thanks, Maria…" he spoke tiredly, barely audible.

"Thanks…?"

"You helped me. I couldn't have controlled my power without you," he told her.

"Helped…?" Maria pondered. She held onto Fayt's hand as she helped him stand up.

"Well… atleast we finally beat them, all thanks to Fayt," Nel said.

Fayt shook his head. " We all did it… but we still have to see if Maria can mess up their computers." Maria nodded as she started to walk over to the computer. The others followed.

"I'll try… I just hope I can get into it."

Xxxx

Maria sat, defeated once again. It was useless… "I've never seen such security on a computer before! I can't connect to its main controls!"

Fayt sighed, but gasped when he realized… "Connect"…

Maria turned to look at him, slightly confused.

"What's wrong?" Maria asked.

"You need to connect to it… right…?" Fayt asked.

Nel blinked, realizing where he was getting at. "Sophia…"

Roger tilted his head. "Sophia?"

"Of course…!" Maria said, zooming back around and typing some things into the computer. "I'll connect to the Diplo this way since only they can't get transmissions into here," she told Fayt. After a minute of typing, a screen popped up. It was black but then it switched with a view of the Diplo's bridge. "Mirage! Cliff!" Maria yelled out.

Mirage and Cliff, who had just turned to look at the screen, jumped in surprise. "Maria!" they both yelled out. Everyone on the bridge (especially Cliff) was relieved to everyone all right. He was jumping around the bridge like a flower girl at a wedding. Fayt swore the image of Cliff in a flower girl dress would **never **leave his mind. They could hear Mirage yelling at him to keep quiet and calm down. Maria stifled her laughter. She turned back around to talk to Maria. "You guys are all right! We were so worried that they had caught you!" Cliff was jumping for joy again. If Mirage weren't so concerned with Maria and Fayt she would have thrown her shoe at Cliff to quiet him.

"Yes, thankfully. We need Sophia, though," Maria explained.

"Can you get her into the bridge?" Fayt added.

"Sophia?" Mirage questioned.

Fayt nodded. "We'll explain when we get back." Mirage nodded and called out on the speakers for Sophia. About two minutes later, she cam running in and nearly fainted when she saw Fayt on the screen. "FAYT! You're okay!" She would've hugged the screen if, 1. She could reach it, and 2. It was actually solid and there, instead of some light.

"Yes, Sophia, but," Fayt said. Sophia watched with eyes and ears open. "We need you hear. Can you come here? Maria can change the settings in the computer so that outside transportation modules aren't blocked. You don't mind coming, do you?"

"Of course not, Fayt. If you guys need help, then I'll help! I don't care what happens. If you need me to save you guys, then I'll do it!" she exclaimed as she smiled. Fayt nodded.

"Okay… Let me open up another screen here…" Maria muttered under her breath, and after some typing, turned back to face the screen with the bridge. "I fixed it! Just have the Diplo wire it hear, and try to get the main office if you guys can. We'll leave the screen open just in case," Maria told them.

Marietta, who was in the bottom of the screen, nodded as she wired the transporter. She finally got it then looked back up at the screen. "I got it!"

Sophia asked, "Do I go to the transporter, now?" Marietta told her to go on ahead.

As Sophia walked out, Cliff looked up at the screen and spotted… Rhedine's unconscious body. "Hey, who's that over there?" Fayt and the others turned around to see that he was talking about Rhedine.

"She was the commander of this place, I think… We'll just tell more when we get back. You guys keeping it good back there?" Some casual sentences… a weird thing to talk about after everything that's happened so far.

"Yep, as usual. Of course, it's lonely without you and Fayt here, but we're handling," Cliff replied. Just then, back in the base, everyone turned around to see Sophia appear in a transporter.

"Fayt!" she cried out and ran into Fayt's arms. Fayt nearly fell over and died from the impact of the collision.

"Woah, Sophia, watch out. You might kill me next time… Heh, but, I'm glad to see you too. Now, how about we show you what we need your help with?" Sophia got up and walked over to Maria as Fayt followed. Nel, Albel, and Roger watched with on growing interest. Technological-ized people were fascinating.

"I have to close the screen now. You guys take care!" Maria said before closing the screen. She went back to the screen of which she was trying to get into the main system before then turned around to face Sophia. "Sophia, can you come over here and touch the controls?" Sophia nodded and walked up to the computer.

"Where?" she questioned.

"Just anywhere," Maria replied. Sophia nervously reached out her hand and placed her index fingers on the controls. Nothing happened. "Try conjuring up something… like this." Maria held her hand away from the computer and formed a small ball of blue glowing light. "Concentrate as hard as you can, with all your might… Fayt and I will help."

"Okay."

Maria got up and walked beside Sophia, holding onto her hand. If she could help Fayt, she could help Sophia. Fayt came up beside Sophia, also, and held onto her other hand. "Now… concentrate…" Maria told her.

Sophia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She concentrated as hard as she could. She wanted to save Fayt and Maria… she wanted to stop the federation… all her focus went into the power. Her hands began to burn and Fayt and Maria pulled away. The palms of her hands glowed blue. Her eyes remain closed and she lifted her hand up to the controls, creating a blue flash as she touched them this time. She pulled her hand away and stumbled backwards. "Did it…" she began," worked…?" she ended with hope in her voice. Maria went to sit back down at the computer and noticed…

"You did it! I can destroy their main computer systems now!" She grinned as she turned to face Fayt, "Thanks, Fayt. I don't know if I would've thought of Sophia's power to help." She smiled warmly at him and Fayt smiled back.

"I'm sure you would've thought of it. Besides, you're so much smarter than me," he said bashfully then joked as he rubbed the back of his head. Maria laughed lightly then turned to face the computer.

"You're not dumb, Fayt…" she told him, Sophia felt slightly sad. Fayt and Maria were getting along so well now. They really _were_ meant for eachother. She was happy for Fayt thought. If he was happy, she could be happy, too. Fayt's comfort came before hers.

Xxxx

Maria sat, typing ferociously. Her lip was set in a firm line as she focused on what she was doing. She just had to mess with the main system and hope to ruin all the other inter-linked systems. Sophia stood with her hands held to her mouth in worry. What if Maria couldn't mess it up? No… she shouldn't think that. Maria knew what she was doing.

Albel was becoming bored. Hey, you couldn't keep an Elicoorian warrior's interest for that long when all that was going on was a girl _typing_. Oh **god.** Just thinking about watching someone type is boring me out of my flippin' mind…

Nel heard some disgruntled noises by her and looked down at Roger, assuming he had fallen asleep. And just as she had suspected… he did. He was lying flat on the floor, his ax beside him, making strange noises. His ear twitched every once in a while.

"I should be near done," Maria broke the silence, making everyone (even Albel) jump. She didn't noticed though, as she was far too busy with the controls. "Delete, delete, delete… drag this here…" she said quietly.

"SYSTEM ERROR. MAIN SYSTEM HAS BEEN CORRUPTED. OTHER SYSTEMS DAMAGED. NO LONGER ACCESIBLE." Maria jumped. Roger woke with a shock form the loud voice. Nel pulled back in disgust as she saw some drool on the polished floor.

"Okay, I think I got it. I just corrupted the data drive. That means they can't access it… now they have to delete everything and start from new. That should really save us, now," Maria said.

"So," Fayt started, "All of the Federation's data was been corrupted?"

"Most of it. A lot of it is about us and other data they can use against us. That should do it, though."

Albel shifted his weight. "You had us sit around forever just to mess with some stuff? I could've done that…"

"Albel, slashing and dicing the controls could have only set it on lock mode… We could've been trapped in here if you were to do that," Maria tried explaining to him, but he didn't understand how it could've possibly affected the doors. Nel was smart enough not to protest, though.

"Albel, just be glad we helped out. So…" Nel trailed off.

"Do we head back now? Is this really the end?" Roger asked.

"Hard to believe… From all that's happened. I doubt this is the end. If Rhedine was just a minion to someone else… then we may have something in store ahead of us. Everyone, don't let down your guard yet."

"Fayt… can I stay with you guys unless there are more battles?" Sophia spoke up, remaining quiet. Her voice was soft and unsure.

"Sure, Sophia. We may need more to fight with us against whoever may be up next. Let's just leave here for now. There're still guards around here. We don't want to run into anymore," Fayt said. Everyone then started to head for the exit. The transporter wasn't there anymore since it was only temporary, but then needed to head out the main door, anyways. There was where they could meet their new, and hopefully, last opponent.

Xxxx

**A/N: **_WOW. Holy. Flying. Cows._ I wrote all of this in one DAY! I actually sat down to type and I finished this whole chapter! If that isn't devotion, then I don't know what is!

There was some FxM there… But don't worry, most of it will return when I have all the battles out of the way. If this story ends next chapter… I'll be surprised. More surprised than when my brother actually **_listened_** to me and shut up. Yep… that surprising. I honestly thought this could get to twenty chapters, and hopefully, it still can. I think I really only expected this to be about 10-11 chapters long when I started it. My… it sure has been a while, huh?


	17. Never Ending

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**A/N:** I apologize! Not only did this chapter take forever, but I was reading through the last one and I noticed so many typos! Gah, I was nearly blinded! I guess that's what happens when you type a whole chapter in a day… (sigh) I hope this chapter won't turn out the same. Now my dreams will be nightmares with typos. (dies)

Now to this chapter… I'm not too sure what I'm going to put, but I don't think it'll be the last chapter. The next one might, though. I apologize for the lack of FxM fluff in recent chapters. I'm going to try and put some more in this chapter to make up for some of it. Well, I'll stop here. I hope that you guys'll read it and I hope that it's worth it. Please enjoy!

Edit: You guys know what I just realized? This story can take place after Luther was defeated. Luther being, of course, the last boss. It can also take place _before_ the Diplo was disbanded, and this story can be a lead-up to its disband. With that in mind, I finally have a solid grasp of the plot. Once again, enjoy!

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_Chapter 17:_ Never Ending

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There were a few guards on the way as the party advanced down the building to the exit. None of them suspected that all of their data had just been destroyed. Everyone was tired from the previous battle and if there _was_ going to be another battle, they just hoped that it would be easy. They just couldn't take much more of it.

"Hey, guys," Fayt began, "will it ever end? All these battles… Not just with us. There're people who keep doing bad." He sighed, air gently blowing past his lips.

Maria closed her eyes in thought then looked up at him. "I don't think so. As long as humans still exist, there'll always be at least one trying to do something for their selfish needs. But, don't worry, Fayt. That doesn't mean we'll have to fight them all off," she told him.

"Maggots have nothing better to do," Albel added.

Nel shook her head. "With all these other planets, including ours, there will never be a resting period."

"It might not end for us, either," Maria said, "but we'll take on whatever happens… together." Her eyes met Fayt's as she said 'together'. Fayt blushed slightly and grinned.

"Yeah, together." Fayt looked straight ahead until he spotted the exit, wide open. "Well, there's the exit. Be prepared, just incase someone's "expecting" us." He gripped his sword in his hand as they advanced.

Roger ran ahead and stopped at the door, where he cautiously stuck his head out to scout for anybody. "Hmm…" he wondered aloud. "I don't see anyone."

The others caught up and slowly walked outside. Fayt shielded his eyes from the bright sunset as he looked around. He sheathed his sword. "Roger's right. Keep your guard up, though, just incase. Let's head to the transporter."

As they were walking, Sophia spoke up, "Hey, Fayt, Maria. What happened? The whole time in the base, I mean. Who did you have to fight?"

Fayt sighed. "Idiots, that's who. People bent on catching us."

"There was Doireter, Krenel, Rhedine, Sere, and Maraten," Maria informed, "along with other guards."

Albel snorted. "These Federation people have issues…"

Roger smirked, "Just like y--,"

Albel turned sharply on his heel to face Roger. "Want to finish that sentence, worm?" He clenched his claw. Roger gulped.

Nel shook her head. It was always like this. Albel and Roger would argue, Albel would chase Roger, everyone gets a headache… She didn't understand why they acted like such children all the time. Just thinking about them arguing was giving her a headache. "You guys stop it now! How old are you, Albel? Five?"

Albel scowled and snapped back at her, "Be quiet, Aquarian maggot. At least I've _seen_ five-year-olds who fight better than you."

Nel's glare sent daggers straight at his back. Roger tried not to laugh as he saw Albel smirk, unfortunately, failing. It was one of those smirks when you say something that you know totally ticked off the other person. An accomplishment, maybe. Nel's head snapped toward Roger. The Menodix could've sworn he heard it crack as her deadly-glare was aimed at him. "Did you just laugh?" Her sharp words pinned Roger against a wall. There was no way getting out, now.

"O-Of course not!" he defended.

Sophia had only been around for a little while, but she guessed they did this often. She never liked Roger much, anyways. He even bugged Fayt.

Fayt sighed as he shook his head. It was sad how they argued so much. _Are all Elicoorians like this?_ He wondered. Maria smiled.

"They may argue a lot, but they're still fun to be with. We have a good party, you know that? We can work together as team, we can save all of the universe…" she said and continued, "It'll be kind of sad once all of this is over."

"Yeah, but we can still visit them," Fayt said. Sophia had walked ahead of the arguing Elicoorians and up to Fayt and Maria.

"Exactly. It's not like we can never go back. Maybe, one day, not too far away from here, we can go back and visit them," she said, her voice sounding happy.

Fayt nodded, "Yeah…"

Maria sighed. It was so quiet and beautiful on that planet. Well, at least when you weren't in the base. All the trees were green and the grass green. She looked up at the sky as she studied the different shaded colors blend so wonderfully into each other. They might not have looked good on clothes, but blue, purple, orange, and pink were the most beautiful colors in the sky. "Pretty, isn't it?"

Fayt and Sophia looked up. He smiled as he spoke. "Yeah… it just lets you forget hardships. Sunsets are beautiful. Although… I can't remember too well the last time I was able to sit down and watch one all the way through."

Sophia inhaled deeply. "I remember something my mom told me… She said that sunsets are a sign of friendship, and sometimes compassion. If you watch one with someone, then you two will always be together, whether it be love or just friends. It's a sign of trust and security…" Sophia stopped and looked and Fayt and Maria, who were both staring at her. She laughed nervously. "Sorry, I get kind of spacey when things are so peaceful. It's romantic though, isn't it?"

"You told me that when you were younger. You were about 5, then. You ran up to me from your mom and told me that. She just smiled. But… I just like sunsets. I don't _really_ believe in something like that… although it's not really a matter of belief or not," Fayt said.

"Aw, Fayt, you're no fun," Sophia teased.

Maria laughed lightly. "He's not like us girls. He can't really think of a sunset as romantic. He's just too… _square_," she joked.

"H-Hey!" Fayt protested. The two girls laughed.

Roger was avoiding Nel's attacks when he stopped and pointed, "Hey, guys! There's the transoperter!"

Maria and Sophia stopped laughing as all three of them turned around to see that the Elicoorians had finally stopped.

"Uh, Roger, I think you mean 'transporter'," Maria corrected him. "At any rate…" she paused to look at where he was pointing. "Yeah, that's it. Come on, let's go!"

The party began to run until they reached the transporter, which wasn't too far away. They all walked in and waited as parts of them began to disappear into little squares, swirling around them and finally disappearing as all of them were transported into the ship.

Xxxx

Fayt walked out of the transportation room and looked around. Some of the crew members gasped as they spotted the party, surprised to finally see Fayt and Maria again. Others greeted them back. They headed toward the bridge, where they cautiously walked in. Why cautiously? Just take a guess.

As soon as they walked in, all heads shot towards the door. The whole bridge cheered. Mirage stood up from her chair and ran over to them. "Fayt, Maria! Thank goodness you're okay!" she hugged both of them. Cliff came up to them.

"You're all okay!" he stood in an awkward silence and then suddenly lunged forward and hugged Fayt and Maria, all in one hug grip. He rubbed Fayt's hair and laughed heartily. "You two had us worried sick!" Fayt swayed around, dizzy from having his hair ruffled. When he gained his balanced he smoothened out his hair with his fingers. They got stuck in a few tangles and his eyes watered from the pain.

"Y-yeah… we're fine," his voice shook as he rubbed his head where it now hurt. Marietta came up and smiled.

"We're all very glad to have you back," she spoke sweetly.

Cliff grinned, "Yeah!"

Mirage frowned as she noticed how tired and beaten-up everyone looked. "You guys have been through a lot. We'd like to know what happened, but you should rest first."

Maria felt relieved. Mirage was right; they _had_ been through a lot, and survived, too. Fighting five big-bad-guys and a whole lot of guards wore you down. "That sounds fine to me. I'm taking a shower, too." Maria left the bridge.

"It may not be over yet, though. If there _are_ more battles for us, we need to regain our energy. Let's go, you guys," Fayt said as the rest of them left.

Xxxx

A whole 24 hours later and no alerts or signs of any enemies. Did the Federation finally leave them alone? They doubted it.

Fayt was lying down on the bed in his bedroom. It has been a while since he last had the chance to rest in it. The bluenette was just beginning to close his eyes when his door slid open. It was Roger. How pleasant.

He walked up to Fayt's bed, his head barely peaking over the edge. "Hey, Fayt, watcha doin'?" he asked, his big, brown eyes blinking.

Fayt groaned. He was still terribly sore and tired and he didn't want to deal with Roger. "What does it look like?" he barked back tiredly.

Roger shrugged. "I dunno. Sleeping?"

"You got it! Now, will you go if I give you a doggy treat?"

Roger pouted. "Mr. Grouchy pants! If you really want me to, I can stay all day and bug you!"

Fayt looked over at his clock and read the time. "Technically, it's not day. Mind going, now? I _would _like some rest and revival just incase we have to fight again."

Roger glared at Fayt before snorting in displeasure then leaving the room. Fayt let out a sigh of exhaustion then closed with eyes to get some sleep.

Roger was persistent, though. He wouldn't walk away so easily. There were a lot more people to bug. People like… Yep, you guessed it. **ALBEL.**

An evil smirk formed on the Menodix's little lips as he made his plan to annoy Albel. He just didn't learn that the skirt-wearing, sadistic warrior could turn around and bite his head off at any minute. This didn't concern Roger, in fact, he didn't even think of the consequences. Then again, when did he ever?

Right on cue, Albel came walking around the corner, the same angry look as usual. Not exactly angry, but more like a 'Don't talk to me' kind of look. Roger hid behind another corner and waited for Albel to pass before quietly running up behind him. Albel kept on walking. _Good. He doesn't know I'm here._ Roger though in triumph.

The Menodix continued to follow until he came up of what to yell. He took in a deep breathe and yelled at the top of his lungs, "**_LOOK OUT!_**" Albel flinched as his eyes widened.

_What the hell?_ He thought as he turned around quickly.

"HEY, ALBEL!"Albel jumped as he looked down to see Roger. He sneered in disgust. "Hey, I wanted to ask you… Do you like oranges?" Albel raised an eyebrow in question.

"Uh… I guess so…" he replied, obviously confused.

"How come?" Roger continued.

"Because… they taste good…"

"Why do they taste good?"

"I don't know! Because… they're orange, I guess?" Albel confused himself even more. He wondered, what did color have to do with it?

"Why are they orange?" the boy pushed on with the questions. Albel glared as he began to realize where the conversation was going.

"Because nature made them that way."

"Why didn't nature make them purple?"

"Because nature wanted them that way."

"How come?"

"Because nature can do what it wants."

"Is nature your mom?" Wow, random.

Albel's eyebrows furrowed. What in the world was he asking? "I suppose… Mother Nature and all that crap. Why are you asking me this anyways?"

"Why shouldn't I ask?"

Albel growled. Now this was just getting infuriating. "**BECAUSE,** it's annoying."

"Why is it annoying?"

"Because you're saying it!"

"How come **_I_ **annoy you?"

That was it. Albel knelt down to Roger's level and held his claw up to Roger's neck. His voice became deep and evil as he hissed the sentences, "_If you don't stop, I'll rip your tail off, stuff it in your mouth, slice your head off, shove that up your **ass**, tear you into four pieces, dip you in acid, then set you in flames and watch you as you flail around **screeching** in **pain** and** agony**."_ He spat 'pain' hatefully into Roger's face, the saliva landing on his cheek.

Roger gulped as Albel's claw cut some of his chin and it began to bleed. Roger shivered as he backed off. "Y-You win!" He ran off as fast as he could in fear that Albel would chase after him. The warrior smirked then continued walking. You can't blame Roger for wanting to annoy someone (although I for one wouldn't have chosen Albel). It's what happens you're bored and nothing's been happening.

Xxxx

Maria was resting peacefully in her bed. She was still very tired and tried catching as many Z's as she could. Her blue, silky hair sat neatly against her shoulders and forehead as she breathed in and out softly.

Suddenly, a huge, loud, enormous sound emitted from the wall right beside her. "Wah!" she exclaimed as he rolled off the bed and onto the floor. She moaned in pain as she sat up on her knees and rubbed her head. She looked at her wall in anger before standing up and heading out the door. She went to the room next door where the noise was coming from. When Maria walked through the door, she saw Roger sprawled out on the bed in pain with his helmet on the ground and a huge bump on his head. He was moaning and swaying back and forth. Nel was by the bed with her hands clenched and a very angry look on her face.

"_You little rat!_ The next time you pull something like that I **swear** you'll feel the pain even in your grave!" She then stormed out of the room. When Maria looked at the well, she noticed a huge dent with an even deeper dent in the middle. She pieced together the pieces and soon realized what had happened.

Here is how she sees it:

Roger: Oh yeah. I will get me some Nel today. (grins evilly and walks into Nel's room)

Nel: What?

Roger: (gropey gropey)

Nel: PERVERT! (throws him into wall)

Roger: (luckily, helmet breaks impact) Me passed out.

Nel: Hmph! (storms out of room)

Maria shook her head. Who ever thought of bringing him here in the first place? She sighed then headed back to her room. Hopefully, she could get some sleep now…

"**_MARIA!_**" … or not.

Lieber came charging up to Maria with his arms wide open. He nearly flew when he approached her, landing on her and giving her the biggest hug ever. "You're all right! You're really all right! I was so worried!" He continued to hug her, as if he was cradling her. "You didn't get hurt or anything, did you! Did anything happen I should know about while you were there! Oh, Miss Maria!" he exclaimed again.

Maria tried breathing. Lieber was like an anaconda. Every time she exhaled, his grip tightened, thus suffocating her. "Y-yes, Lieber! I'm fine! And, no! Nothing happened to me!" Lieber finally let go.

"Oh, what a relief! I don't think you'll be able to understand how worried I was!"

Maria rubbed her arms where they hurt. "Oh, I understand, all right…" She said so that Lieber wouldn't hear. She looked up at his face to see that he truly _was_ worried. He didn't seem like he had much sleep, and even now, he still looked worried. Maria smiled weakly. Lieber was nice and all… and he _was_ worried. Maybe if he wasn't so… what's the word… _grabby,_ then Maria wouldn't be as annoyed by him. Still, he was one of the crewmembers and apart of the ship. She had to show some heart. "Thanks for worrying about me… You don't have to worry, though. You only stress out yourself more than necessary."

Lieber looked down at the ground. "Maria…" He hugged her again, but with less force. That was all he said. Maria frowned. Maybe something more was bothering him? Oh, well, it wouldn't hurt to hug him back, she thought.

Maria returned the hug. Lieber's grip tightened as his hands trembled slightly. "Lieber, are you all right?"

Lieber pulled back and managed a smile, even though Maria could still see some sadness. "Perfectly fine! Well, I'll see you around. Bye, Miss Maria!" he waved and Maria waved back.

_What could be bothering him…? Perhaps it's best not to ask… I already have an idea…_ her thoughts trailed off.

Xxxx

Maria gave up resting and headed up to the bridge. When she got there, Fayt was already explaining some things to Cliff, Mirage, and the others. "Oh, Maria, there you are. Well, they insisted that I tell them what happened since they really wanted to know."

Maria nodded. "I'll help, too."

So, the two went on explaining what happened after they headed to the base. Cliff, being the pervert he is, asked if Rhedine was hot. … No comment.

When Fayt and Maria explained the different things with their powers, Mirage nodded then began, "So, both of your powers can be combined? I didn't really know that could happen. And, Fayt, you seemed to have some kind of grip on your power. Do you feel you understand it better now?"

"Yeah. I mean like, before, I didn't even know I had it, and now, I can actually harbor and control some of my power. I just hope I can do it at least once more. We might have to fight again," said Fayt.

Maria agreed. "Mm-hmm. I was able to help him control his power using mine, also. There may still be much more of our powers we don't know, though."

Cliff wrapped his arms around both of their shoulders and used them to support him. "Ah, well, we're just glad to have you both back! You guys are like our, err, pets! We couldn't without ya' guys!" he grinned.

Fayt stared at him in question. "Pets… riiiiight."

"Well--," Maria removed herself from under Cliff's weight, "I guess we just have to wait now."

"So it would seem," said the other bluenette as he too pushed himself away from Cliff.

"Anyways, who's hungry? I know I sure am! Come on everyone, let's head to the cafeteria!" Cliff exclaimed happily as he headed for the door. The others followed.

Xxxx

The crewmembers were happily enjoying their meal made by Nik. (You didn't forget about him now, did you?) Some of them were joking around while others were asking Fayt and Maria about what happened. Fayt took it in his hands to make a story.

"And, so, there we were… Up against the toughest one! Her name was Rhedine and we knew the battle would be hard, unlike her minions!" Fayt exclaimed as he gathered the attention of the people around him. Maria just laughed lightly at his behaviour. They could finally play around be apart of the others.

Cliff laughed. "Fayt, Fayt, Fayt… You weren't the only one there. Let Maria tell some of the story!" he said.

Maria shook her head. "Oh, no, no, no! I possibly couldn't! I'm afraid story telling isn't my best attribute…"

"Go ahead! I do kind of feel like I'm taking a lot of credit," Fayt insisted.

She thought for a minute before nodding. "All right." She then stood up from her chair and cleared her throat. "As Fayt said, there we were! She was tough and nasty, _exactly_ what you don't want to run into! She pulled out her gun, one of the most powerful and advanced!" Maria made hand movements of her holding up a huge gun. "The battle had begun! We were fighting for what felt like forever but she wasn't giving up! _We had nearly lost hope when…!_" she paused, causing crewmembers to gasp.

Fayt hung his head in shame. "Well, now, she just about kicks my butt…"

Maria opened her mouth to speak but stopped and looked at Fayt. "Uh… Sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away," she laughed nervously before sitting back down into her seat.

Fayt grinned. "Just when we were about to lose, I used my powers to stop her! She went flying through the air and hit the wall with a huge '_thud_'! We were all exhausted and the battle finally ended! We were all beaten, bloody, bruised, and anything else that starts with a 'B'! In other words… we still won!" he raised his hand in triumph as he exclaimed happily.

Crewmembers clapped while others just shook their heads in embarrassment.

Xxxx

The ship had become boring. It stayed in the orbit of the planet where the base was just incase they had to fight again. But, alas… No one was coming. The bridge sat in boredom at their posts as they watched screens. Repairs were already done from the last ship battle and everyone was pretty much recovered.

Fayt lied down on his bed with his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Lately, that was all he's been doing. _Maybe I should have a T.V. installed into the ceiling…_ he thought out of sheer boredom. Hey, that sounds pretty nice, actually.

He sighed as he turned over and lied down with his stomach now facing the bed. He buried his head into his pillow as he let out a deep sigh. When he breathed back in, he got a huge scent of lemon. _Hmm. They must be using the lemon-scented detergent again._ He thought, again, out of sheer boredom. _Y'know, I actually wouldn't mind right now if we had to fight again. It's too boring and we've been waiting for too long. It's no fun--._ His thoughts were cut off as the alarm sounded out through his room. _Whoa, perfect timing._ He hurriedly got up before running to the bridge.

When he got there, the others were already waiting.

"Fayt!" Maria ran up to him. "They're finally here."

Fayt walked up to the rest. "The Federation?"

"Well," Mirage began, "it's only one ship, but it's definitely a Federation ship. Oh, wait, I'm getting a request to open up the screen."

Cliff growled. "Let's see what they want." Mirage nodded as she typed and the screen appeared above the bridge. Everyone looked up.

There, was a black-haired man. He had a hard, serious face, but it soon disappeared as he smirked and raised his eyebrows in a somewhat friendly manner. "Fayt Leingod, Maria Traydor…" he said. His voice was evil yet he didn't sound angry. Something was going to happen.

Xxxx

**A/N:** …I apologize, I apologize, I apologize! I can't believe it's been three months since I last updated! I'm so terribly sorry! … I just don't understand what's wrong with me… Here, I took the time to type up this chapter in about… three days, all spread out. I just don't get why I couldn't finish it sooner! It's just… I felt that I had to finish it. I wanted to see what would happen. I wanted to see what you guys would think. And last… I wanted to see what all of you would think when it ended… Well, I'm just glad I finished it before July. Well, enough of my pathetic apologies… (I don't deserve to have such nice people read it who still bother even though I'm so pathetic!) I realized that I started this fanfiction almost a year ago. I submitted the first chapter June 29, 2005. I can't believe it's been that along. But… I guess I'm still proud of myself that I've kept it up! Now, for the story… Cliff-hanger! Sorry, I think I'm kind of attached to cliff-hangers now. But, no worries! I think that the next chapter or the one after it will be the last. For sure, it will be under 3 more chapters. Yeah… Once again, I apologize for lack of fluff, but I know you guys will enjoy the next chapter! Or, at least, the one after it… One of those! Now, to end this, please review! I would really appreciate it (even though I don't deserve it) and I really WILL try to finish the next chapter quicker! Now that it's Summer Vacation, I've been bored out of my mind and I've had nothing to do. Even so, please review. Oh, and one last thing. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter.


	18. Together We Can Do It

Xxxx

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything except my OCs: Rhedine, Sere, Krenel, Doireter, and Maraten. ((Then there's Nik in the beginning of the story)). And be glad I don't own Fayt and Albel and Luther… ((shifty eyes)).

**A/N:** All right, well, I'm pretty sure this won't be the last chapter. Perhaps the next one will be an epilogue since I'm seeing it as very short. But I'm going to try and make this chapter as fluffy and long as possible! … Wow, am I the only one that didn't see the last part of that sentence very clean? Ugh, mental images… ((nervous laugh)) ANYWAYS. Yes, Fayt and Maria _still_ aren't done with their battles. But I assure all of you: they will get a break soon. Also, I've been thinking about Lieber and Sophia getting together… Nothing too serious, but they deserve happiness too, right? Well, on another note, I have an extra at the A/N after the end of the chapter. Read it if you want to know how to pronounce my character's names. I kinda have an attachment to making weird names… Well, enjoy!

Thank you guys for all the reviews! It makes me really happy!

**Maxmagnus20019: **Thanks very much! Well, since it IS summer vacation and all now, I've been going places and really haven't been home…. But now I think I'm good so I'm going to finish this chapter!

**Shadow Chakra:** Yes, they did. It took them a while to actually say something though… Yeah, they are! Ignoring them is the best thing to do. Hahahaha! That's so true! Wow… Albel raping a cow… Good one!

There was some fluff if you squint real hard… No, really, there was! XX Oh, I know! I'm so sorry about the 4 months… Well, this definitely won't take 4 months!

**asga:** Yep D

**Shadow of Archon:** Heehee, really? Yes, Maria does seem to fit him more.

**Dragoon knight:** Haha, thanks! This update didn't take as long as the last… which I still apologize greatly for!

**faytmariaXXX:** Thank you! Yeah, it IS quite long… I couldn't settle for a short story. This was originally going to be only… about 10 chapters. Yeah… Eheh, I used to really hate Sophia but now I see that she has use and isn't that bad… When he's not humping Fayt's hip. ((meaning: always holding onto him)) I always use Maria, too! I love long range attacks. You survive longer.

Yeah… but the Federation didn't really have a full grip on the potential of their powers… Well, in my story at least. Yeah… she does. Everyone does, except the bad people. Haha, I love AlbelxFayt. And FaytxCliff isn't too bad… if Cliff were a wee bit younger… Yep, sorry all you guys, but you got a yaoi fan writing your FaytxMaria. ((laughs)) ((oh, and not to mention I like yuri)) OH GOD NO! LIEBER AND SOPHIA! Yes, I did say to kick my ass. Glad you listen! I shall also kick my own ass into gear! Thanks, again!

**Cloner4000:** Yes, I apologize yet again that the last chapter took so long… I don't know why I didn't work on it sooner… But, luckily, this chapter is quicker! Even if only just by a bit, it's quicker!

Xxxx

_Chapter 18:_ Together We Can Do It

Xxxx

"Fayt Leingod, Maria Traydor…" the dark-haired man spoke with a smirk creeping up onto his lips. Who was he?

Fayt clenched his fists. The enemy noticed his action and laughed - a low, raspy rumble emitting from the darkest depths of his throat. Hmph. Wonder how long he worked on that laugh. "So, finally, I see the two trouble makers…" Trouble makers? Did he know? He must have. "You infiltrate my base, defeat the most powerful of my members, and then corrupt all our data." Oh… he knew alright. "If you two think you can bring down the Federation with those acts, then you're completely wrong."

Fayt scowled. This man was annoying him. "What're you going to do about it?" he snapped at him. "Are you going to fight us? Are you going to run away?"

The man stopped and put his hand to his chin as though he were thinking of Fayt's choices. It was as if he was mocking him. Finally, he chose, "I think the first option is better."

Cliff growled. _Smart ass._ He thought in anger.

Maria stood firm and looked right at the other's eyes. "Fine, we'll fight you!"

The man's lips curved up. "Perfect…" the word rolled off his tongue in a sickeningly sweet tone. "But," his voice cut through the bridge - suddenly serious. "Only Leingod and Traydor can fight me. They're the ones I'm after, anyway."

Mirage frowned. Would Fayt and Maria be strong enough to go against this new enemy all on their own? They didn't really have a choice. She looked over at Fayt and Maria. They appeared to be thinking the same thing.

_Only us two?_ Fayt thought.

_But he's so strong…_ Maria seemed to reply.

Both of them tensed up as they began to doubt their own powers and strengths.

Fayt laughed lightly. _He can't be that hard._

_We've done fine by ourselves before!_

_We shouldn't have doubts! He's our last battle!_

_Yeah… I'm sure we've fought stronger enemies…_

Maria and Fayt looked at each other and nodded. **_We can do this!_** They thought synchronously.

Fayt threw his fist out as in protest. "Alright! It'll be just us two!"

"We'll take you on!" Maria supported him.

The man laughed; that same laugh. "Okay, then. I'll meet you on this planet we're currently orbiting. You have ten minutes. _Don't_ be late." The screen flickered as the holographic image disappeared.

Cliff rubbed the back of his head. "Aw, man, this doesn't look good. You guys, please be careful. We don't want anything to happen to two of our favorite members. You guys are gonna give me gray hairs before you know it!" It was true. Cliff, along with other crewmembers, was looking tired and exhausted from worrying over them. _It's too bad I can't fight and help them. I wouldn't even be half as worried! But this is Fayt and Maria's final battle_, he argued with himself.

"We'll be okay, Cliff! You and I both know that we've taken on stronger enemies in the past!" Fayt reassured him.

Mirage asked, "But just you two?"

Fayt shrugged then flashed Mirage a relaxed smile. "We'll manage."

Xxxx

Maria and Fayt had finished preparing when Lieber and Sophia appeared in the hall. Both were worried, yet again.

"Fayt…" Sophia began then changed her sentence. "You guys have to fight again? Will this be the last battle?" Fayt nodded and Sophia ran up and hugged him. "Please be careful… I don't know if you've been told this already, but you've really been worrying everyone lately…" Fayt returned the hug and patted her back.

"It's okay, Sophia. Both Maria and I will be fine. We've pulled through before," Fayt comforted her. Sophia's hug only tightened as her eyes began to tremble. Fayt noticed.

"O-okay… But promise me you'll be okay… Even if something happens to you, I'll feel better knowing that you promised me," she pulled away and held out her pinky. "Pinky promise. Just like when we were younger. We would always pinky promise, remember? And you would always go through with it, too. And even to this day, I still feel that you can and will always go through with it. So, promise me, Fayt." She smiled weakly as she wiped one of her tears away.

Fayt smiled and locked his pinky with hers. "I could never forget… They meant everything to me, and they still do now. I promise I'll be okay… And you promise you won't worry too much."

Sophia nodded and smiled. "Promise!" They then pulled their hands apart. Now it was Lieber's turn. Sophia watched as he walked up to Maria.

"Miss Maria…" he began.

"Lieber," Maria interrupted, "you don't have to add 'Miss' to my name. Just 'Maria' is fine," she smiled. Lieber rubbed the back of his head.

"Maria," he started over, but then paused. It kind of stayed like that until he spoke again. "I know you've told me a million times not to worry, but, please… please, be careful. I have a really bad feeling about this new enemy. Miraculously, you guys have pulled through so many battles with close calls and I just hope that you can manage_ another_ close call. I can't help but worry more than I have lately…" His voice sounded as though it had changed a little bit. It was different compared to when Fayt first met him, or even before Fayt and Maria left for Aquios together. It didn't have that slightly smug touch or that hint of childish jealousy. Maria frowned as she noticed. What's been happening to him this whole time? Why was he so different? Did she worry him so much that it would actually change his personality? It was a bit upsetting.

Maria walked up to Lieber and looked right into his face. Lieber's eyes looked away from hers. "Lieber… I'm… I'm so sorry…" she abruptly stopped as she clenched her fists. She felt guilty; an unnerving guilt that she had felt when Fayt's back got injured ((she blamed herself for allowing him to get hurt)). She had felt that she brought him that pain, and now she felt that she'd brought Lieber some pain, too. Lieber's eyes sharply shot back to face Maria.

"No, Mi-…" he stopped before saying 'Miss', "Don't, Maria. You don't have to apologize for anything! You haven't done anything wrong!"

"But… Just look at yourself, Lieber. You're not the Lieber I remember anymore. That last time I bumped into you… I noticed you were different, too. Please tell me, Lieber. What's the matter? I don't want to leave for this battle feeling bad because I couldn't help a friend who needs to be comforted. If something DID happen…"

"Don't!" Lieber cut her off. "Please, don't say something like that… It's when I think about something like that…" a sob racked his body and he tried to choke down the oncoming tears. "Only think of the good that's going to happen. Only think of the good that YOU will make happen. And only think of the good that HAS happened. You will defeat this new enemy. You will stop the Federation. You AND Fayt. And last, you've defeated an enemy before to save the whole Universe and everyone in it. It's thoughts like these that let me know you're okay. But when you say something…" he stopped, not wanting to think about it.

"Oh, Lieber…" Sophia and Fayt remained quiet. They knew this was important. "You're right." Lieber blinked in surprise. Some tears were already rolling down his cheeks as he tried to stop them. She lifted her hand to gently wipe some away. "You're absolutely right. If we think of the good, then the good will happen… And I'm sorry for worrying you, but I know that we'll get back safe and I know that we'll stop the Federation at all costs. Just let me know, that both you and Sophia, have faith in me and Fayt. Give us your support and we'll come through shining."

Lieber shyly looked away. He felt a little bit embarrassed to have Maria wipe his tears away. His fists stopped trembling as he looked back up at Maria, straight into her eyes. A confident smile appeared on his lips. "We'll do what we can! We'll be waiting when you guys get back!"

Maria couldn't help but grin. "Now that's the Lieber I know!" Just as sudden as his smile, he hugged Maria, who returned the hug, then pulled away, his smile unwavering. "Well. We'd best be heading off now! You two take care, and don't worry…" Maria looked at Fayt, a sign to finish her sentence.

"We'll be okay! Nothing has stopped us then and nothing's going to stop us now!" Fayt exclaimed. Sophia grinned. It had been a while since she'd last seen this Fayt; probably back around when they were about to face the last boss with their whole party.

"Good luck, Maria. Good luck, Fayt," Lieber said.

"Yeah! And don't forget your promise, Fayt! Do whatever it takes so you don't end up like Rhedine and her minions," she joked, smiling.

"Haha, don't worry!" Fayt chuckled.

"Our enemy will turn out worse than Rhedine…" Maria smirked. "Well. We're off. And don't worry yourselves! Bye now!" she waved as she continued to head for the transporter.

"See ya guys soon!" Fayt called out. He made sure to add 'soon' to keep Sophia sure of their safe return. It was a childhood friend's job to keep the other happy, right?

As the two bluenettes walked through the huge, metal doors, Sophia turned to Lieber. "I guess talking to them really did work. I feel so much better."

Lieber smiled. "Yeah. I'm glad you suggested it, because I probably would've just avoided Maria again. But, thanks to you, I think I'll be able to relax just a little bit. So… thanks again, Sophia. It's too bad I couldn't get to know you better sooner, huh?"

"Yeah… all we did was argue like children, but I think we've done some growing, too, just like Fayt and Maria have," she agreed.

"We sure have."

Xxxx

_Swoosh!_

The bright, glowing colors swirled in front of Fayt and Maria's eyes as they appeared on the far too familiar planet. Both already pulled out their weapons and stood back to back, ready to fight anyone. After scanning the area, their muscles relaxed a bit as Fayt spoke. "It doesn't look like he's here yet…"

Maria nodded. "Yeah, but don't assume just yet. He could be hiding…" At that sentence, her finger gripped the trigger tighter. It was too quiet. There wasn't even the slightest breeze and not a single bird's chirp could be heard.

There weren't that many places to check. The land was vast with small groups of trees scattered here and there. The large hills rolled for miles but everything was seemingly flat. The Federation base could even be seen far off in the distance. Yellow and green patches of grass were the only terrain. Well, enough about the scenery… The point was, the enemy couldn't have been hiding or he just wasn't here yet.

Fayt suddenly gasped as his eyes wildly searched.

"What is it, Fayt?"

"I swear I just heard something…" he raised his sword as both of them stopped breathing momentarily to listen. A couple of seconds passed and nothing… "Maybe not…"

At that moment, the same laugh Fayt and Maria had already grown to hate came from nearby. They couldn't see anyone though. "So, you didn't chicken out like I thought you would," he spoke. For an evil guy, he didn't sound very serious. "Now, I finally get to meet the mischievous pair in person, and I should be honest and tell you already I was expecting more…"

"Show your face you coward!" Fayt yelled in anger. He jumped back in shock when the man suddenly appeared right in front of him. His eyebrows furrowed in frustration. Maria turned around to face the man, also.

"Enough face for you?"

Fayt scowled as he glared at him. "Quit fooling around!" he spat.

"Oh, fooling around, am I? I'm merely setting the mood…" then he stopped and his eyebrows rose as though he had had just discovered something grave, "Oh! I haven't introduced myself, have I? How rude of me… And here I thought we had gotten past all those annoying introductions." Fayt and Maria continued to glare as he continued talking. What kind of enemy was this? They've never faced someone like him before. "My name is Seryd and I am the controller of the Federation. It was my order in the first place to fetch you two, but that seems like two much for my weakling minions. With both of your powers, I could control any other groups out there and eliminate our other enemies with the snap of a finger. You like power, don't you?" The last sentence wasn't really a question, but more of an accusation.

Maria spoke up. "Of course we don't! We would never join with you!"

"Eh? You don't like power? But you two have amazing powers already. Tre_mendous_ powers that would make anyone bow down. If you didn't like power, why would you use it against so many? Why would keep using that power and making it stronger if you didn't like? Is attacking with that power really proving that you don't like it?" he asked. The beginning of the battle had turned into a mind game.

Maria and Fayt paused as they thought. "We… we had to…" Fayt argued weakly.

"Hmm, had to? You had to kill?" he pushed on with the inquisition.

"We had to! We didn't want to but we had to! If you were the least bit good, you'd understand since you wouldn't kill for pleasure!" Maria protested.

"For pleasure? It's my job. Is that what you're saying, Fayt, Maria? It was your job to fight and kill?"

Maria tried to stay calm as she replied, along with Fayt. "Yes."

"A job."

"All through your journey, even before you two met, it was your job to kill. And you agree, yes?" Seryd asked. Both nodded warily. "Then that also means you like the power you have and harbor it in your arms. It's… your job. Since it's your job, you need to do what is right for that job."

"Our job isn't to work with people of the likes of you and hurt the innocent. Our job is for the best of everyone, while yours, on the other hand, is for the worst," Fayt told him. "So, you see, we have no reason to work with you."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a shame. And here I thought I was finally going to get through to you two to show you that what you're doing is wrong, but I guess I was wrong myself. Well, I'm not going to waste my whole day trying to convince little brats. If you want it this way… then let it be. Just one warning… I won't hold back," he hissed. A huge weapon, a staff of some sort, appeared in his hand. He jumped up from the ground and hovered above it.

Fayt and Maria clutched their weapons tighter as they both watched with slight fear in their eyes. "Confused?" Seryd asked. "I'm not a normal being like you. I'm not an Earthling, Klausian, or even of the winged type. I'm much more, and you're about to witness my true powers."

Finally, it had begun.

Seryd charged in between Maria and Fayt, still suspended in air. Blades of grass flew out behind him as though his movements cut through it. The bluenettes jumped away from him. Fayt ran at him, ready, to attack, but only missed when Seryd flew to the side, the cloak like cloth flowing behind him. Maria took his distraction as a chance to shoot. Seryd's eyes flew to the side to watch the beam as it came near him. He stopped it in midair; a collection of light and energy, mindlessly twirling around and around. Maria watched in awe but quickly raised her gun to deflect the beam when he sent it back at her.

"Pathetic Earthlings…" He jumped up and brought the staff into the ground, sending light waves in all directions. Fayt and Maria tried moving their feet but found that they were stuck to the ground.

"What the-," Fayt gasped as he struggled some more. Even after Seryd had removed the staff from the ground, waves were still flying out. He flew up in the air and aimed the staff at Fayt. A small ball of red light formed around the tip of the staff. Fayt watched and tried faster to move out of the way.

"Fayt!" Maria called out as she aimed her gun at the staff and shot it. The staff turned to the side just as it sent the shot and barely missed Fayt.

"Foolish girl…" A hint of anger threatened in his voice. He came down from the air and landed by Maria. Maria tried moving but the waves still came. She aimed her gun back up and attempted to shoot him but he held his hand out and absorbed the shot, leaving a white, glowing ball in his palm. He took the same hand and held onto her gun, lowering it to Maria's side. She found that she no longer had control of the arm holding the gun.

"Maria!" Fayt yelled. He tried lifting his foot to run but failed again. Just then, the waves finally stopped and he fell to the ground. He quickly jumped up and ran towards Maria. Seryd held out the staff and pointed it at Fayt, stopping him in his run. "H-hey! Let me go!"

Seryd ignored him as his hand that was holding onto the gun began trembling as he dented it. The ball of light that was still in his palm was used to explode the tip of the gun. Maria dropped the gun as her eyes widened. Who in the hell _was_ this! Seryd smirked as he noticed Maria's surprised expression. He backed off then faced Fayt, who was still struggling to move but found that the only thing he could move, was his head.

"Quit your struggling," Seryd demanded as Fayt stopped, his head sitting still and his eyes watching. "This girl, Maria… She must mean a lot to you." Fayt's eyes widened as he took a sharp breath. "If that is so…"

"Don't you touch her!" Fayt screamed in fury. Seryd was going too far. "Or I swear I'll…"

"You'll what? You can't even move!" Seryd sneered.

Maria's shoulders hunched. All of their attempts were starting to seem useless and now she felt that everything they've done will just go to waste. What would become of everyone else, then? She couldn't just give up, could she?

Seryd grabbed Maria's face in his hand. His nails dug into her soft cheeks and Maria winced in pain. He forced her head up to face his and smirked. "Such a pretty face… I wonder how you'd feel if I were to kill her. It might make this battle more interesting, if you could call it a battle…"

Fayt's nostrils flared as he desperately tried even harder to move. _Maria… No… NO!_

Maria struggled to escape his cluthes but his grip only tightened and she let out a small cry.

Seryd laughed-- one so threateningly cruel and sadistic. "And I'll make you watch the whole thing." After the last word, he took his free hand and held it up. He clenched his fist and watched as it began to turn transparent. A bright outline glowed brighter and brighter after every passing second. "This should do…"

Maria closed her eyes, expecting the worse.

Time seemed to freeze as Fayt watched in horror. Seryd shoved his hand into Maria's stomach and it passed right through the armor and into the middle as though it wasn't even there, but he had definitely done something. Maria's eyes widened and her fists curled up and another cry escaped her lips. A tear rolled down and over Seryd's finger before he released her face and let her fall lifelessly to the ground.

"**_NO! MARIA!_**" Fayt cried out as he felt his eyes begin to burn. Everything around him suddenly turned white and all he could see was Seryd and Maria. He was released and he fell to the ground, tears rolling down his face leaving wet, burning trails.

Seryd glided over to him. "See? I'm more than human. Just one look at you and I could immediately tell you loved her. The most important item to you in the whole universe. You can't let your emotions escape like that around an enemy. They use it as your weakness." He stopped by Fayt as he floated down and put both feet on the ground. "Now all that's left is you… and in your emotional state, that shouldn't be too hard."

Fayt's tears continued as he looked up and watched Maria's body; still and unmoving. His vision went black as he was blinded by rage and fury. _This can't be happening…_ Seryd placed his foot on Fayt's back and pushed him down to the floor. Seryd watched as Fayt's fists trembled and his body shook. _I… I WON'T LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THIS!_ Seryd pulled back as Fayt suddenly hoisted himself back onto his feet. He looked down at the ground. He seemed liked some kind of zombie. Seryd began to worry when he lifted his head and saw that Fayt's eyes had gone completely white and were glowing with something he's never seen together at once… A tidal wave of sorrow and a storm of rage, anger, and fury. "_You bastard…"_ His mouth didn't even move as symbols formed around his head. Instead of an ethereal blue, this time, they were a bloody red and glowed with the fires of a hundred hells. "_I won't let you live for this…"_ His voice sounded different. Seryd backed off as he watched Fayt. Wings, the same color of the symbols, sprouted out from his back. They grew and bones could be heard shifting as blood began to stain Fayt's back. "**_YOU'RE GOING TO SUFFER FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!_**" Red beams shot out of Fayt's chest and straight into Seryd's heart. He froze then trembled as the red energy spread from within his heart and grew outward. It sent shots of pain all through Seryd's body, but what he was feeling wasn't pain, but agony and suffering. It was as though all of Fayt's anger and pain was packed up into the blood red energy.

"**ARRRGHHHGGHH!**" Seryd yelled as more of him began to dissolve. Drops of blood even fell to the floor. His weapon disappeared with him as, finally, he was completely gone. All the red glowing faded away and the surroundings went back to the original planet. Fayt eyes returned to normal and he fell to the ground. His chest heaved as his breaths came in shaky and scared.

"Maria… I can't… I can't let you die…" his voice weakly managed to say as he dragged himself over to Maria's body. He lifted her onto his back and painfully stood up, carrying her around his shoulders. Slowly, one step after another, he headed for the transporter, dragging his feet across the ground. All he could think about now was Maria. His entire mind still wasn't even there. It had been under so many pressured emotions that Fayt didn't even feel that he was there anymore. His actions were driven by the subconscious part of his mind that seemed to have taken over some of his consciousness.

Xxxx

Fayt left the transportation room on the Diplo and continued to the bridge. A nearby crewmember gasped and ran away crying. Another just looked away, not wanting to believe what he saw. Fayt had some of Seryd's blood on him and looked deathly white. The wounds on his back from where the wings sprouted were still bleeding. You couldn't blame them for not wanting to look at them.

The bridge door opened and everyone gasped as Fayt dragged himself in. Cliff's stomach churned as he looked away. Mirage ran up to Fayt and lowered down to his level. "Oh my god, Fayt…! What happened!" she cried out. She couldn't even keep her calm composure anymore.

"Please… please… save… Maria…" he then fell to the ground, out cold.

Mirage stood up. She couldn't panic. Everything would be okay! It just had to!

She ran up to Cliff and looked up at him. "Go get Sophia and Nel. And hurry." Cliff nodded as he ran past Fayt and Maria and out of the bridge.

He quickly found them but didn't bother explaining to them what had happened until they got into the bridge. When they got there, both nearly passed out from shock. Nel crouched down by them. Sophia slowly fell to her knees and touched Fayt's cheek but quickly pulled back as her eyes started to water.

"He's… he's not dead, Sophia. Please don't worry…" Mirage knelt down by both of the girls on the other side of Fayt and Maria. "Nel, help me move Maria." Nel nodded, biting her lower lip. She lifted Maria with Nel and gasped when she felt how limp and lifeless her body was.

"Mirage! Is Maria…!"

Mirage shook her head. "We don't know… we don't know anything yet." Nel bit her lip harder as they set Maria down by Fayt. Sophia just sat and watched. Cliff looked away. It was too much for him at the moment.

Nel felt Maria's wrist for a pulse. She pulled away, shaking her head sadly.

"No…"

Sophia looked at Maria as tears streaked her cheeks. "No! That can't be!" She crawled over to Maria and set her hand on her forehead. "She's… she's still warm. Maybe… If I can connect with her mind, we can do something…" Everyone was quiet as Sophia took a deep breath and concentrated on connecting to Maria's consciousness. After a couple of minutes, her head suddenly hanged low and her touch on Maria's forehead loosened a little bit. Nel looked at her face and found that her eyes were closed. She must've succeeded.

_Maria… Maria? Are you there?_

_Sophia, is that you? Your voice… it's so faint…_

_Maria, what happened?_

_I… I don't know… That one guy, Seryd, I think his name was… he stuck his hand in my stomach and that was all I could remember._

_You don't know what he did to you?_

_No, not at all. I could still hear voices back when Fayt and I were fighting him but now they're getting really, really quiet… If something's not done soon, then I don't know what'll happen._

_Well, okay, Maria, just hang in there. Don't let yourself fade away. We're going to try and do something. But I think we might need your powers if we're going to help you. I have a feeling that Alteration will do us some good._

_Okay. I'll try to lend you my powers…_

_Hmm? Maria? Where's your voice?_

_I'm trying to lend you my power… but it's kind of hard when I can't do it physically._

_Then let's imagine it. Since we only have our minds at this moment, let's both imagine holding hands and see if you can pass it that way._

_Good idea… Okay, now, concentrate…_

Nel and Mirage watched in silence as they saw Sophia's hand glow momentarily then stop. In a couple of seconds, she stirred and sat back up. "Huh… where… the power! I got her to lend us her power. It might help us save her!"

"What did she say?"

"She said that that bad guy did something to her stomach… then she didn't know what happened after that. But we have to hurry because her consciousness is fading away and it's almost gone. If that happens then we'll lose her forever."

"Okay, then, let's remove this armor…" Nel said as she began to take off the armor, placing it beside her. After that, there was still the dress in the way. Nel looked up at the zipper by Maria's neck above her jacket. "Er, Cliff, don't look while I do this…"

"I wasn't looking in the first place… I can't stand seeing those two so out of it," Cliff replied.

Nel opened up the beige jacket then began to pull down the zipper. She pulled it down below Maria's stomach. When she did so, Nel, Sophia, and Mirage both gasped in shock.

What they saw was… _nothing_. The shiny floor reflected back at them as though it were saying 'Haha! Expecting something more?' Mirage paused as she thought. "The man they were facing… he must've used her power against her, because it seems as though he's altered… _corrupted_ the very layout of her stomach. But what I'm thinking, is, her stomach has nothing to do with it… but he was trying to reach her mind."

"Then why didn't he just… Oh, right," Nel asked then quickly corrected herself.

"Yeah… I think everyone would be traumatized if she was headless," Mirage said.

Sophia looked closer. "Well, then, I guess we'll have to use her power to heal her back up! But… I don't think I can do it alone…"

"Then I'll help," Nel told her. "It might work better with healing powers, anyways."

"Good idea," Sophia agreed. She grabbed Nel's hand as they reached their free hands over Maria's now-gone middle. They closed their eyes and concentrated. A blue glow emitted from Sophia's hand as a green glow emitted from Nel's. The two combined to create a sea-like color and swirled around in a circle above her see through stomach. Mirage watched as she hoped for the best. Nel and Sophia gripped their hands tighter as they tried to concentrate and combine their powers more. It wasn't that easy, you know. You can try bringing back someone's stomach and see how you feel after that. Yeah… Now you know how hard it is.

Mirage continued to watch as a minute passed. Cliff crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he watched the computer screen. Other bridge members quietly sat and waited.

Mirage blinked twice when she thought she saw Maria's finger twitch. Wait, there it twitched again. She looked at her stomach and it was beginning to appear again. She wanted to tell the other two but didn't want them losing their concentration. Slowly, but gradually, all of Maria's stomach came back and her chest started to move again as she began breathing. She stirred and Nel and Sophia cautiously pulled back their hands, hoping that it helped, and opened their eyes. Sophia grinned widely as she saw Maria moving about. Mirage felt extremely relieved as Maria's breathing became more steady and she began to open her eyes. When they opened all the way, she looked around in confusion. Everything came in blurry and she had the hugest headache. Not to mention that her stomach felt really strange. As more came in and she began to figure out where she was and who was by her, she sat and rubbed her head.

"What… what happened…" she paused when she noticed her zipper was pulled down almost all the way and more than she wanted was revealed. She hurriedly pulled it back up and blushed as she looked at the three people beside her. Good. There were only girls.

She looked to her right to see Mirage. Mirage was never really the one to show emotion, but she looked so glad and worried at the same time, almost as if she were going to cry. She lunged forward and hugged Maria, holding her closely and patting her hair. "I thought… I thought I would never see you again…" Maria smiled and hugged her back but then noticed Fayt.

"Fayt!" she shifted over to him and looked worriedly into his face. _Why is he so white?_ _He isn't…!_ She quickly reached out her hand to feel his pulse and sighed in relief when she felt it beating. _But then… what happened…?_

All she could remember was some people talking ((Seryd and Fayt)) then a feeling of immense emotion and finally the screeches of a dying man… _Were those Fayt's emotions?_

Sophia crawled over and sat beside Maria. "I can try doing to him what I did to you. I'm pretty sure I can wake him up and hopefully turn him back to his normal color…" Sophia said.

"Yes, please try, Sophia… If anything happened to him I could never… I could never forgive myself…" _He's too important to me…_ Sophia nodded then placed her hand on his forehead and closed her eyes. Everyone became silent again and Cliff was now sulking over the computer screen. He wouldn't be able to take it much longer.

It didn't take long for Sophia to connect to Fayt's mind since he was there more than Maria was.

_Fayt? Can you hear me?_

_Soph… Sophia?_

_Yes, Fayt. It's me._

_How…_

_That's not important right now. Do you remember what happened?_

_Not really… wait… I can kind of remember… **MARIA!** I… I let her die! It's my entire fault…_

_No, Fayt! No! She's not dead! She's alive! She's right beside me and wishing for you to come back!_

_She… is…? She's not… dead?_

_No. So, please, please come back…_

_I can't, though. I tried… When I watched her fall to the ground… I just lost it. Something must've happened to me._

_Okay, then… wait for me. I'll be right back. And keep thinking. I still want you to be here when I come back._

_Okay._

Sophia opened her eyes again then looked to her left to see Maria sitting there.

"Well?" she asked worriedly.

"He can't seem to get back. Part of him appears to have been damaged when he thought he saw you die…"

"Oh, Fayt…"

"But if that's the problem, then maybe we can help him by letting his subconscious know you're here. It might heal his mind," Sophia informed.

"Hmm, but… how would I do that?"

"Hold his hand and talk to him and I'll see what he feels."

Maria did as she was told and held onto Fayt's hand, her thumb caringly rubbing against his palm. Sophia touched his forehead and connected back to his mind again.

_Fayt? You still there?  
_

_Yeah. _

_Okay. Do you feel anything at all right now?_

… _I feel… there's some kind of warmth… I can hear… someone's voice… A very soft voice._

_Good. Now, concentrate on that voice and that touch. Who is it?_

…_It's… so familiar… I know who it is, but…_

_Keep concentrating then tell yourself who it is. Let yourself know._

…_Ma…ri…a…?_

A large flash and Sophia found herself sitting by Fayt again. "H-huh…?"

"What happened?"

"He said your name then…" Sophia trailed off when she saw Fayt's skin starting to return to its normal color. "Fayt…?"

Maria watched as Fayt stirred. Tears filled her eyes as she immediately held onto him and cried into his neck. Sophia began to cry too, in relief, that is.

Mirage and Nel watched.

Fayt opened his eyes but everything was black and blurry at first and he couldn't hear anything. The blinding lights of the bridge caused him to squint. _I can feel someone… I can feel them crying… but they're not sad… and… I'm beginning to hear… that's… It sounds like… Maria!_ His vision cleared out and he could hear everything as he looked around him. Sophia's smile widened as she saw Fayt's green eyes shining again. He held out as his hand and lied it down on Maria. "Maria…"

Maria slowly lifter her head and her eyes locked with Fayt's. Fayt's eyes began to burn up as he sat up and tightly held onto her, his fingers intertwining with her soft, blue hair. He was so sure he had lost her. He was so sure he would never see her kind face again. And he was so sure that he would never be able to hold the one most important to him.

"I'm so glad… Fayt."

Xxxx

**A/N:** Oh. Wow. I think I almost passed out writing that. It was too much for me and I almost gave up! Well, here's a nice, decent chapter. I'm sorry if I gave some of you a heart attack… But did you really think I would kill Maria? I would kill myself before I ever killed Maria!

Well, this chapter has not been read over yet, so please excuse any mistakes ((which I bet there are a lot of)). I really think that my writing's improving, and someone even told me so! Switching topics again… Still no kiss! But, don't worry, I promise the next chapter will have their kiss, because it'll be one of the most important parts of the story. Heh, I've made it one of the most important parts of the story by making you guys wait so long! Well, please, PLEASE review! I worked so hard on this chapter and sat at the computer forever just for you guys! And expect the next chapter soon, hopefully… Oh, and I'll just add the extra in the next chapter since I'm running out of time. ((my mom wants me off and I can't put it yet)) Till next chapter!


	19. Relief

Xxxx

Disclaimer: Don't own, except for my OCs! ((see last chapter))

**A/N:** I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter! I was a bit worried… Well, this story is _very_ close to ending! Just one more chapter after this! So I'm very, very nervous! I've been working on this story for more than a year now and I never thought I'd see it end! And with so many reviews, too! Well, I'll have some bonuses at the end of the story just to put the lid on top of it all! I hope this chapter satisfies all of you just a bit because I tried putting some more FaytxMaria stuff in here. Also, the humor has returned a bit. Now that all the serious crap is over, I felt that it would be appropriate. I thought this was going to be the last chapter but I got to page 12 and realized that the chapter wasn't even half way over! Hahaha, so, chapter 20 will be the last, which I think is a good length. I'm quite proud of myself! Well, enjoy!

Thanks again for the reviews!

**Maxmagnus20019:** Thanks so much! Oh, and also, thanks for all the reviews! I noticed you've been reviewing since Chapter 15 and that makes me really happy!

**Shadow Chakra:** I hope that wow is a good thing? Eheheh… Thank you too for all the reviews!

**J.G. The Gamer: **Hopefully it means the end, because nobody really likes the Federation and they just screw things up. Another group can take over, a nicer one. Haha, I'm not _that_ harsh. I couldn't screw you guys over and kill Maria OR Fayt! I love both too much. Yes… I wonder how they will act, too. Thanks! Oh, and thank you too for reviewing so much!

**Master and Chief and Arbite...:** Thank you for very! It's okay you didn't review before, I'm just glad you read it!

**asga: **Haha, I'm glad I didn't kill one of them either! And thanks for all the reviews!

**Warrior heir:** Thank you very much!

**sakura-heart-blossom:** Thank you! Yes, I need to make Lieber and Sophia interact more, but don't worry, I plan to! Actually, I don't think Maria's weak at all. I Scatter Beam everyone's ass with her and I just don't see her weak at all. I just made their enemy extra hard that time. Yes, she's very adorable! Thanks, again!

**Aleu The Lunar Wolf:** Aww, I don't wanna whack you if you like my story! At least you reviewed, huh? Haha, thanks very much! Yes, Fayt and Maria make a very nice couple!

**Kitsune.ayame:** Wow, thank you so much! Luckily, this chapter isn't the last… but I'm thinking the next one will be. Hah! No kiss! They got close somewhere around… Chapter 7 or something, but I'm kind of attached to saving the kiss for last, now… /nervous laugh/ You really like it? Thank you oh so much!

Xxxx

Chapter 19: _Relief _

Xxxx

Maria and Fayt sat there on the bridge's floor for a couple more moments, not wanting to let go of each other. They were afraid to let go and have something bad happen again when they felt safe from the world for once. Mirage and Nel smiled sweetly. Both of the teens had everyone worried out of their minds. Sophia smiled sadly. She was extremely happy, but upset that Fayt loved Maria more. Still, she wouldn't be a jealous child and would try to be happy for him.

Fayt's tears had stopped but his heart still hurt from all the emotions that overrode it in the last battle. Maria buried her face deeper into Fayt's shoulder, still covered in the smell of fresh blood, but she didn't care.

"Maria…" Fayt began. Maria slowly pulled away and looked up at him-- her vision was fuzzy, as so was Fayt's. The two green eyes each looked like a flower's sprout, fragile, yet strong enough to withstand even the most crushing tramples. "Never… Never scare me like that again…" he lightly joked as he smiled. Maria smiled back. A small joke was just the thing to clear up the layer of tension.

Maria's smile grew as her eyes began to sparkle and burn again. She pulled him back into the embrace as she talked into his shoulder. "It can never happen again… Because you'll be there protecting me…"

Mirage coughed lightly. She didn't want to interrupt there moment but she was beginning to worry about Sophia. Maria and Fayt turned to look at the Klausian. "Well, you two should get some well-earned rest, and a lot of it. After all that, I'm surprised you're even able to move." Both nodded as they slowly began to stand up, tumbling once and again, but then finally managing to stand with each other's help. Sophia, Nel, and Mirage followed.

Fayt turned toward Sophia and Nel and smiled. "Thanks so much, you two. Without you guys, who knows… who knows what would've happened." Nel nodded, acknowledging his thanks. He hugged Sophia and patted her back. "Sorry to worry you so much." Sophia hugged him back tighter as she felt her eyes begin to sting. Worried was right.

"Oh, Fayt… I'm just glad you're all right… Looks like you kept your promise… barely…" she smiled. Fayt chuckled as he nodded.

"Yeah… Well, you tried to keep your promise… I'm really sorry for worrying you so much, though. But, you were able to pull through without crying so far, so I guess you kept your promise after all," Fayt assured her.

Sophia's grin grew as she agreed. "Yeah! I guess those pinky promises are more than just a promise. They're more like a guarantee… if that makes sense," she laughed lightly. Maria smiled along with them. "Well, I better let you two get some rest. Good night, Fayt. Good night, Maria."

"Night," the two bluenettes said as Maria picked up her jacket and armor and they headed out of the bridge. Sophia and Nel sighed then turned toward Mirage as the older woman began to speak.

"You had best get some rest too. I don't know if using so much of your power at one time is good for you, Sophia. And you just look plain tired, Nel," she told the two healers.

"Yeah… you're right…" Sophia trailed off as she, too, headed out of the bridge.

"I guess I'll get some rest," Nel said. Yeah, she _did_ look tired.

Xxxx

Cliff has sitting half way out of his chair as he let out a gigantic sigh of relief. "I thought I was gonna have a freakin' heart attack… Man, those two sure know how to scare people."

Mirage laughed lightly. "Yeah, they sure do." She walked over to Cliff then leaned against the screen. "You know… those two may be young, but they have such strong hearts. They've been through so much more than a normal person their age has and yet… their smiles are still shining brightly and their strength is ever growing. It really is quite amazing… and to think, we're the ones that raised Maria to be so strong."

Cliff rubbed his head sheepishly. That was kind of like a compliment. "Yeah. We make a great team!"

At that moment, Mirage and Cliff turned their heads to face the bridge door as it slid open. In came a confused and worried looking Albel and Lieber. They must've spotted Fayt and Maria.

"Um…" Lieber began but then paused. He fidgeted with his fingers, afraid to ask. Albel sighed as he continued Lieber's question.

"What the hell happened to those two?" he bluntly spat. "I've never seen so much blood on someone. Alive, of course," he added, sounding as though he were bragging. He kind of was, actually.

Cliff rubbed the back of his head. "Well… it's kind of complicated…"

Mirage put her hand to her mouth in thought. "If you really want to know what happened, then you should ask those two after they get their rest, but we'll explain what we know now."

"So…" Lieber hesitated, "Maria is okay, then? What happened to her?"

Cliff coughed to cover up his nervousness. "Er, um, well… I don't think you want to know."

"What! What happened!" Lieber now yelled in worry. Albel crossed his arms. He didn't understand why Cliff was such a thick-headed maggot at times.

Mirage whacked Cliff lightly behind his head. "Great going, Cliff. Now you've worried him for no reason." Cliff rubbed his head again where it hurt and Mirage cleared her throat before explaining. "Well… both Fayt and Maria were in terrible condition when they came in here…"

_After 20 minutes, a lot of questions, and quite possibly some of the most information Albel had to cram into his head in a while, Mirage and Cliff ((mostly Mirage since Cliff didn't look)) managed to explain all that they new of what happened._

"That damned scumbag," Albel growled. "How dare he think he can cause someone so much pain!" He clenched his claw in anger.

"Well, _you_ cause people pain, Albel," Cliff gave him a stiff stare.

Albel put his nose in the air. "So. I keep it physical. I wouldn't mess with someone's mind like that. Ever."

Lieber looked down at the floor. "So Maria… She almost died…" he was still in shock.

Mirage looked away as she spoke. "Well, yes… but she's okay now! So, don't worry about it. Oh, and as I said before, if you want to know the rest, just ask Fayt and Maria later after they get their rest."

Lieber nodded as he quietly left the bridge.

Albel remained, having nothing to do. He was bored out of his mind on this piece of flying metal. He got bored of Airyglyph before, but now he actually starting to miss it. Atleast it had more action than here. He could _kill_ things without getting in trouble. He walked over to the wall and leaned against it, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. He should probably head back soon, as so should the others.

"What's going on, guys?" Roger burst into the bridge. Albel slid off the wall and hit the floor with a loud 'thunk'. Roger looked to his left to see Albel rubbing his head and cursing under his breath. "Oops…" Cliff and Mirage turned to look at him.

"Roger? Where've you been?" Mirage asked. He missed everything.

"I was, erm… sleeping. Yeah! Sleeping!" He laughed nervously.

Cliff didn't even bother asking. "Anyway," he growled, "You missed everything and we're not going to explain again."

"Whatever. So, did Fayt and Maria pummel that Fedragation lummox?"

"That's 'Federation'," Mirage corrected him.

"And yeah," Cliff answered. "He's totally toast."

Roger grinned. "All right!"

Albel was back up on his two legs and was leaning against the wall again. Another good reason to go back to Airyglyph was to get away from Roger. Albel didn't like him at all, as you guys already know…

"Hey, Roger," Mirage said to get Roger's attention.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Since I think we have everything covered now, we'll probably be sending everyone back home. Your family probably misses you, and you miss them too, right?" she asked.

Roger paused then looked away. "Well… yeah. I actually kind of miss Papa's stories and Mama's food…" He rubbed his stomach as he remembered all those dinners his mother had made for him and his father. He wondered how they were doing.

"Okay, then you don't mind if we take you back home after you get to talk to Fayt and Maria?"

"Hmm? Where are they?"

"They're sleeping now," she informed.

"Oh, okay. Yeah! You can take me home, after they tell about everything that happened!" He then happily skipped out of the bridge. Mirage looked at Albel.

He replied before she could even ask, "I'll be heading back soon, too. This place is boring. I don't know how you maggots don't die from it all." He uncrossed his arms and walked out of the bridge.

Xxxx

Maria, Nel, Sophia, and Fayt were asleep for hours. Apparently, all that happened took a huge toll on them. Maria and Fayt specially. Both of them conked out the second they hit their bed. They were going to bother with showers later.

Four hours passed, then five hours… six hours… eight hours… Nel and Sophia were already awake and headed to the bridge.

Cliff was sitting in his chair as usual. Mirage was pacing, though. Nel walked up to her and asked her what the matter was.

Mirage stopped mid-pace and faced Nel. "Well, we got news about the Federation. Universe-wide news. A lot of people are completely confused while others are celebrating. They're trying to find another large group to take control of everything. I'm worried about what they'll do, though. There hasn't been any fighting going on but it's been 8 hours already and I just hope somebody doesn't do anything irrational now that they aren't under control of the Federation anymore." She spoke kind of quickly, her worries and thoughts mixing around with eachother.

Cliff was quite the opposite, though. "Calm down, Mirage. Quite frankly, I'm glad those bastards are gone and anything that anybody does can't possibly be as bad as what the Federation's been doing. I mean like, making people fight eachother? Some dumb ass surely can't do that."

"Yes… Surprisingly enough, I agree with Cliff," Nel told the Klausians.

"Well, I kind of side with Mirage," Sophia pondered. "Everyone is so used to the Federation being there. Who knows what'll happen now."

"Don't agree with her, Sophia! Help us calm her down!" Cliff complained.

Sophia pulled back. "Oh, er… sorry. C'mon Mirage, calm down. Let's have a party later to make everyone less tense!"

"Good idea. I think it'd help real well," Nel added in her opinion. Now she agreed with Sophia… Who was she going to agree with next? Being on the Diplo had made her way to reasonable. Crimson Blade spies aren't supposed to be like that.

"A party?" Everyone sighed simultaneously as they heard the little Menodix's voice ring through the bridge in a high and excited tone. "That's awesome!" He ran up to the small group of people and jumped up and down. "Could we maybe play pin-the-rat tail-on-Albel!" A rat-tail was, of course, one of the long braids hanging from Albel's hair. The name kind of suits it, I think.

"You better be glad he didn't hear that," Nel snapped.

"Anyway… I think that's a great idea, Sophia. We can have it before the Elicoorians head off back to their planet. I'll go tell the chef and some of the crewmembers to prepare it. We have enough supplies." Mirage got up and left the bridge, which left Sophia, Nel, Cliff, and Roger.

"I'll go help! I love planning parties!" Sophia happily stated before running off. Then there were three.

"And I'm off to go plan tricks! I mean, um… get ready!" Roger exclaimed as he escaped Cliff's glare by running out of the bridge frantically. Then there were two…

"And I guess I'll just go see if there's anything I can do…" Nel ended the group discussion as she, too, left. Then there was Cliff.

"What? Why'd everyone just leave? Do I offend?" he asked as he smelt his armpit then coughed loudly.

Xxxx

Maria stirred in her sleep as she slowly began to wake up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was extremely tired and her stomach still felt odd. _How long was I asleep…?_ She wondered as she looked at the clock. Her eyes opened to their full size in surprise. _Ten hours! I haven't slept that long in ages! I have to get out of bed!_ Maria jumped out of her bed but then fell to the floor as a rush of dizziness overcame her. _Ouch… not a good idea…_ The captain slowly got up off the floor then slipped on her shoes and headed over to her dresser. She had best take a shower now.

After she grabbed some clean clothes, she walked out of her bedroom and started heading toward the showers. She stopped as she leaned against the wall and yawned widely. _Why am I so tired?_ She regretfully pushed herself off the cold wall and continued on her walk. Her eyes were closing again and she had to force herself to keep walking. Hopefully a cold rush of water in the shower would wake her up. _I guess having your mind deathly near to completely disappearing kind of has its effects on you… I can't even think or see that clearly… _

When Maria got to the hall with the showers, she walked up to one of the entrances and stopped as she looked up at the sign. There were two showers: the 'Girls' and the 'Guys' ((because Cliff thought that 'Men' and 'Women' sounded boring. He also made the font really weird and hard to read)). She squinted her eyes as she tried to make out the letters on the sign. '_G'… 'G'… 'I'…? I think that's an 'I'… This must be the shower._ Maria hoped the negative effects on her brain would die out soon. Her body must've not been so used to sleeping for so long. If you've slept for a real long time, you find yourself more tired than you are awake.

Maria walked in to hear a shower already running. She turned the corner to see a pile of discarded clothes and a pile of clean clothes. _I wonder who else is in here…?_ Actually, Cliff had asked Maria if she wanted her own shower since she was captain and all ((since Cliff had his own before)) but Maria said she was also apart of the crew and didn't mind using the crew's showers. Maria began to strip herself of her dirty clothes. First to come off were her shoes, then the armor and the gray half-skirt that it held, then her tights… She discarded everything, along with black zip-up dress that she had under everything (1). Just as she removed her bra, she heard the other shower turn off. Five showers were aligned on two walls, one facing the other. The shower with the other person was just one shower away from Maria.

Maria quickly glanced then took a double take at the shower and completely froze.

The other person paused in mid-step and nearly fell over from shock.

1…

2…

3…

"**_AHH!_**" Maria exclaimed as she attempted to cover her bare chest.

"**_OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY MARIA!_**" Fayt apologized as he covered his eyes and jumped back into the shower, his chest beating a mile per second. Maria was completely awake now. All the blood rushing to her head turned her face the brightest it's ever been and was also a wake-up call. Maria closed her eyes immediately as she held her arms over her chest. **_Am I in the wrong shower!_** Fayt thought. His face had completely turned a bright red and was pulsing along with his heart. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…" he apologized over and over.

Maria looked at her surroundings and froze again. _Oh god…! I can't believe I'm in the wrong shower!_ She thanked the steam for covering up parts of Fayt and thanked herself for atleast keeping her panties on.

The flustered bluenette grabbed all her clothes and slipped on her shoes. She held the pile close to her chest as she rushed back to the entrance of the showers. She checked the surrounding to make sure the coast was clear and frantically ran to the other showers.

Once inside and out of anyone's view, she collapsed onto the wall. Her chest heaved in and out heavily as her face continued to glow a bright red. _I can't believe that just happened…_ She groaned as she let herself slide all the way down and hit the floor. _That CANNOT have happened! _Flashes of Fayt's bare, wet, steamy chest kept going through her mind and Maria cursed in her head for ever letting her consciousness get so tweaked in the first place. She couldn't even read the signs correctly!

Meanwhile, in the other showers, Fayt was still trying to get over his experience. His boy-mind wasn't letting him, though. _Shirtless Maria…** NO DON'T THINK THAT! **She had no shirt… **I know that! Now leave me alone!** Completely bare and vulnerable… **SHUT UP**! You got to see her boo- **Don't even say it**! _Fayt banged his head against the shower wall as he continued to fight with himself. "Oh, geez…"

Maria was having problems, too. It was different though since the names of body parts didn't keep popping into her head. _Great going, Maria. **Leave me alone!** Some Captain you are. **Everyone make mistakes! And it wasn't my fault that Seryd messed with my mind!** Riiiight. Admit it. You're an idiot. A very lucky idiot… **I'm not lucky for seeing Fayt nake-! Auugh!**_ Maria held her head as she tried to shake the word out of her head. The shower's water continued to run, though. Fortunately, the noise helped to block out some of her thoughts.

Xxxx

Mirage and Sophia were now in the kitchen with the chef, Nik ((remember him, everyone?)). The rough looking man was surprisingly gentle with the food he made, and it tasted very good to boot. Mirage had Nel to help with setting up the table in the dining room. She didn't know much about setting up a table but saw how Clair did it in the Mansion back in Arias and was able to do most of it by herself.

"Do you think Fayt and Maria are awake yet?" Sophia asked out of curiosity. Mirage shrugged.

"They should be awake now… They've been asleep for a while."

Sophia set the last of the mini sandwiches on a silver tray and carried it out to the dining room. Lieber was now helping clean it up some since he too had nothing better to do. Sophia was walking over to the table when she tripped over a bump in the carpet. Luckily, Lieber was right there and was able to catch her from falling. He helped her stand back up and smiled bashfully.

"Are you all right?" he asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

Sophia nodded quickly as she grinned at him. "Y-yes. Thank you. The sandwiches are okay, too."

Lieber moved out of the way as Sophia set them on the table. He looked at them then back at Sophia. "They look really good. Pretty, too," he added, a slight smirk in the corner of his mouth.

_Wh-why's he looking at me like that? P-pretty? _"Th-thank you! I worked hard on them." She blushed lightly before rushing back to the kitchen. Nel looked up at them. First Fayt and Maria and now them? She was feeling a bit lonely and wanted to head back home as soon as possible right after the party. Who knew Nel would ever be homesick? She was so used to traveling around the country and doing certain errands for the queen. How come she never felt homesick _before_?

Nik was cooking some chicken on the stove while Mirage decorated the desserts. She didn't cook much, but enjoyed it when she had the chance. Mirage turned to look at the door that came from the dining room as Sophia rushed in. "What's the matter? You seem flustered," Mirage asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Sophia waved it off as she headed over to Mirage. "Oh, cupcakes! And cookies! Would you mind if I decorated them, too?"

Mirage smiled. "Not at all." She scooted over and made room for Sophia. The brunette rolled up her sleeves even more to make sure frosting didn't get on them. Nik looked at them and chuckled.

"I haven't had other people helpin' me cook in a while! It's actually better, an' ya two are good at it!" Nik complimented.

"Thanks! Back on Earth, most of the girls learned to cook and I was one of the best in my class!" Sophia bowed slightly before she continued to decorate the desserts.

"I guess I should try to come in here more often?" Mirage asked.

"That'd be great!" Nik grinned.

Xxxx

Cliff was becoming extremely bored in the bridge. He looked back at the screen and read the more recent reports. "_The Federation's leader has also disappeared after searches went out to find him and came back with nothing. He can't be located anywhere. What happened? Why is the Federation falling apart all of a sudden? Most of the groups the Federation used to control are starting to take matters into their own hands. First the Vendeeni have been brought down and now the Federation? People are wondering if we're starting to see the bright side of things…"_ Cliff stopped reading the bit on the Federation and let out a huge sigh. Maybe they _were_ starting to see the bright side of things, finally.

Cliff stretched and yawned. "Hey, Cliff." He abruptly sat up and looked behind him.

"Fayt! You're awake!" Cliff exclaimed happily as he got out of his seat. "We thought you guys would never wake up!" He ruffled said Fayt's hair. Fayt pushed his hand away and crossed his arms.

"You can't blame us."

"Ah, don't sweat it, man. Say, we've got reports about the Federation. Go get Maria so you guys can go see what you two have accomplished," Cliff told him. Fayt's cheeks slightly flushed a pink color at the mention of Maria's name and quickly tried to cover it.

"Okay." He quickly left before Cliff could see his reaction. Knowing Cliff, he would probably say something like, 'Why're you blushing? Oh, did you score with Maria? Is that what took you guys so long? Atta boy, Fayt!' …Stupid Cliff.

Fayt looked around the halls until he saw Maria leaving the doctor's room. She was in normal clothes without all that armor. Fayt was just in his pants and a shirt, too.

"O-oh, Maria!" Fayt called out. Maria paused and turned to look at him. Both of their cheeks became visibly pink. "Oh, are you all right?" He asked when he noticed she left the doctor.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just having her heal my wounds, and you should, too. Come on," she ordered as she grabbed his wrist without hesitation. The best way to forget something was to just act like nothing had ever happened.

"Doctor, can you heal Fayt now?" Maria asked. The doctor looked up and smiled.

"Fayt, Maria told me what happened. You must have more wounds than her." She motioned him to come to her.

"I'll just wait outside," Maria informed them as she left the room and leaned against the wall outside.

In just a couple of minutes, Fayt came out. "She healed the wounds on my shoulder blades from those wings. She was surprised when I explained to her how I got them," he explained.

"Wings? But aren't your wings only light?" Maria asked in confusion.

"These ones were different… Anyway, Cliff said he was going to show us the reports on the Federation. You'd like to read them right?" Maria nodded and they both left for the bridge.

Xxxx

After reading the reports, Mirage walked into the bridge. "Okay, everyone, set the ship to Auto and come to the dining room!" The members in the bridge pressed someone buttons and keys on their workspaces before walking up the stairs and past Mirage. Mirage headed over to her desk and held down a switch as she talked into a speaker. "If you're hungry you better head to the dining room!" She then released the switch and walked over to the three remaining people.

"Well, now, that's a weird order…" Cliff thought aloud.

"You guys are awake, I see," Mirage joked around as she walked up to the two bluenettes and hugged them. "I hope you both are feeling better now. Well, follow me so we can go eat!"

When Fayt heard 'eat', it was a cue for his stomach to growl tremendously loud. Everyone laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess my stomach wants us to hurry." At that, they all headed for the dining room.

When they got there, they all took their seats except for Mirage, who remained standing at her chair. "I assume that most of you know why we're celebrating?" Some crewmembers smiled, as others looked confused. "Well, the reason is…"

Cliff stood up and punched the air in a gesture of triumph. "The Federation's gone!" The room was suddenly immersed in cheers and shouts. Mirage smiled as she continued to talk.

"So, to congratulate Maria and Fayt in a job very well done, we're throwing this party for them. Anyone see why they don't deserve it?" The room became completely quiet as Mirage's serious face returned and her eyes scanned the room. Then, the smile replaced it and she continued. "Good. Now, enjoy!"

The crewmembers cheered again as they grabbed whatever food they wanted and dug in.

Fayt looked at Cliff. "Mirage seems to be in a real good mood… I'm not used to her being so… well, lively, I guess."

"Hey, just because Mirage is serious about her work doesn't mean she can't take off her shoes and have fun once in a while, eh?" Cliff defended her in a jokingly way.

"Yeah, I suppose. I'm just not used to it…" Fayt trailed off.

Nel, Albel, and Roger were all sitting in a group on one side of the table. Albel stared at one of the entrees with intense concentration.

Nel looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Um, Albel, what're you doing?"

Albel's stare intensified as his eye twitched and he moved his head closer to the tray.

"…?"

Roger looked up at him.

Albel finally spoke as though he was just asked the question a second ago. "I'm trying to see if it's alive. I don't want to poke it."

Nel looked at what he was studying. It was indeed a scary dish… The thing on it resembled a fish. Nik, who was standing behind them, let out a laugh.

"_Ahahaha_! It won't bite! It's a certain kind of octopus from Klaus," he told the confused Elicoorians.

"That's an octopus?" Roger poked it with his fork and then hid below the table. He poked his head out from the edge and looked at it. "Well, it didn't bite my face off… or Albel's."

Nel sighed. Albel may have been bloodthirsty and most of the time ruthless and cruel, but he was still intrigued by the simplest of things, just like a small child.

"That's not an octopus. I'd rather eat a toadpole (2)," Albel scoffed.

"A toadpole! But those taste so bad!" Nel said in surprise.

"Atleast I know it's edible," Albel argued.

Sophia was enjoying her food. Lieber was sitting right by her, who was accompanied by Lancar ((I can't believe I forgot about Lancar up until now!)). "Nik sure makes good food," Sophia said.

"Well, of course I do! I've been here since the founding of Quark!" Sophia jumped as she looked behind her. That was the second time Nik appeared behind someone.

"Oh! I didn't know you were there!"

"I'm glad you like my food, unlike that skirt-wearing freak over there who's infatuated with something that's not even as weird as him." He pointed his thumb over at Albel who kept glancing at the octopus every now and then to make sure it didn't change it's position. When somebody tried to take a piece of it, Albel snapped at them and told them to back off or else he'd have to cut their hands and mouth off. Roger was laughing at his display. Sophia sighed as she shook her head. "That's Albel for you… Even though I barely know him, I've seen enough to know that he's not your average guy… if he even is one…"

"I heard that you worm sucking scumbag!" Albel yelled out at her.

"Albel! You're letting Roger's name-calling rub off on you!" Nel exclaimed.

"No I'm not!"

"You said 'sucking'!"

Crewmembers were enjoying their argument since it was quite interesting.

Fayt, Maria, Cliff, and Mirage just ignored them. They were kind of used to it by now.

As Maria was eating, she paused and set her spoon filled with food back on the plate. Fayt looked at her and set his spoon down, too. "Maria? What's the matter?" he asked in worry.

"Fayt, remember what he talked about before, about Quark?" she asked quietly, not wanting people to overhear. Fayt nodded. "Well…"

"You're thinking about telling them now?" Fayt tilted his head.

"Well, I have everyone here and now that the Federation's gone, there's no reason to keep these people from their families any longer," she explained. Fayt nodded in understanding.

Maria stood up to get everyone's attention. "Everyone…" she began but then cleared her throat and projected it more. "May I please have everyone's attention!" Everybody as the table stopped what they were doing and looked up at their captain. "I have an announcement to make…" Cliff and Mirage exchanged worried looks. "Now, I know that Quark's been together even before I even arrived on this ship and I feel kind of worried of what you may think of my decision, but… Quark was first established as an anti-Federation group, right? Well, the Federation is gone now and we're just a group, now. A group that doesn't have much reason to stick around any longer."

"Maria, are you saying…?" Cliff asked. Maria nodded as she continued.

"I'm disbanding Quark."

Xxxx

1: To me, Maria's outfit has a short black dress with a zipper down the middle, which is then covered with the armor and the thing around her waist that holds the half-skirt, then the jacket and perhaps another shirt under there… If that clears up any confusion...

2: Remember toadpoles? Those annoying little monsters that look like tadpoles. Infact, they ARE tadpoles but just bigger and a different name.

**A/N:** This chapter was going to be MUCH longer but I've been typing all this morning and when I looked at the page number, I was like "Woah! Already 12 pages?" So I decided to stop it right here. Just one more chapter to go and… tah-dah! The end! Oh, I was so sure they'd kiss but I ASSURE you it'll be the next chapter! I have to end it next chapter! Also, the errors in this chapter haven't been fixed yet so please try to ignore them! Review if you want to see the last chapter soon! The more reviews I have the sooner you'll see the ending! And I was going to say something else… Oh, yes! I think this is a rather quick update compared to how I've been doing. I think… Heh, until then!

**Added A/N:** Most of the mistakes have been corrected, but there might be more so please excuse me!


	20. Final Decision

Xxxx

Disclaimer: As much as I love Star Ocean, I (sadly enough) do not own it.

**A/N:** I am so ashamed! How can I even dare to show my face to all of you?! I have not updated in ages! Jeez… what's wrong with me…? My deepest apologies! Man, I know apologizing cannot help ease your impatience with me! I really wanted to see what happens, too, but I just could not seem to make myself type. Well, we were moving at first, which really delayed it, then after that, my mom kept hogging the computer, and I would have had it up sooner (most likely), but, the most honest reason… I forgot and got lazy. I know! I am so terrible! I'm so sorry! ((bows over and over)) Fayt and Maria probably hate me now too… ((sulk))

Well, I am not going to get too far apologizing. Hmm, I have decided that I should not end it at Chapter 20, since there's still room for development. Yes, I know, I am so indecisive. You know, I was actually planning to have this story at only 10 chapters… Well, I had best be able to finish it before this June because 2 years on a story with only a little over 20 chapters seems absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary in my eyes. No excuse can explain a story taking so long! Now I'm just irritated at myself… Maria, just shoot me now ((groan)).

But thanks for all the reviews, guys, even though I'm the biggest and most pathetic loser ever! DX

You guys probably don't even remember reviewing this.

**asga:** Thank you for your kindness!

**Cloner4000:** I failed you… ((sniffle))

**Aleu the Lunar Wolf:** Aww, thank you so much! Hmm, well, looks like there will be more than one more left. I hope that makes you happy.

**sakura-heart-blossom: **I hope you're reading this Sakura, because I'd really like to thank you. Your review made me think more and that's most likely why I'm lengthening the story a bit, and what you said about those three (not really having anyone anymore) is true. Thank you again!

**Shadow Chakra: **Once again, I hope you'll be happy that this isn't the last chapter. Thank you!

**Aoyama Ayame:** Thank you for reviewing the last chapter! That's a relief to hear that you found the chapter funny, because that was what I was going for.

**Master and Chief and Arbite…:** Haha, yes, I found myself laughing at it too, even though **_I_** am the one that typed it. Ahh… I apologize once again for the late reply. I'm sorry to say that I haven't been keeping up with your chapters. Please forgive me.

**Maxmagnus20019:** Thank you very much!

**Moric:** Thank you!

**CRYSTAL TEAR020:** Ahem… yes, I believe I was feeling very sadistic when I wrote that… Eheheh ((nervous laugh))…

Even though I realize I've apologized 100 times already, I'M SO SORRY! If you don't remember what happened before I can't blame you. Well, I took up one whole page just to type all of this… I had best start the chapter now before you become even MORE impatient with me ((cowers before readers)).

Xxxx

Chapter 20: _Final Decision_

Xxxx

All of the dumbstruck inhabitants of the dining room looked at their leader with surprised expressions. Maria let out a sigh and glanced down at her plate. She listened to some of the members chatting amongst themselves about the newly attained news and thought to herself, _I knew this would happen… Now I've put everyone in a state of confusion. I should explain everything clearly to them._ As for Fayt, the announcement did not surprise him as much since Maria had already discussed some of the matters with him. In fact, he even helped her to decide on some of her decisions.

"M-Maria!" Lieber exclaimed, accidentally disturbing some of the utensils on this plate. He appeared to be of the select few who took her words the hardest. Mirage almost had the same reaction but decided to wait for Maria to explain. Cliff, on the other hand, had to ask:

"Are you sure about this Maria? I mean… all of Quark…?" his eyebrows furrowed inward, showing both his confusion and worry. He knew Maria could make reasonable decisions, but having such a devotion to the group just made him wonder more.

The soon-to-be-former-captain-of-the-Diplo nodded before looking back up to face her crew. She nodded her head and replied to Cliff's question, "Yes. At least... I hope I'm sure." Fayt gazed at her with a worried expression resting on his face. "I've been thinking and, well… I don't see a reason for us to hang around anymore. Quark was founded as an anti-federation group, is that not so? Seeing that they're gone now, there isn't really a reason to keep all of you from seeing your families and continuing a new path in life. If you're wondering what's going to happen to the Diplo, it will most likely continue as a trade ship… although I'm still debating over what'll happen.

"I know how much Quark means to you all and I have barely been in charge long enough to decide such a significant decision, but… please try to see the situation how I see it and I just hope that I thought through my choice well enough."

Albel, who had finally stopped playing with "the weird alien fish" (as he liked to call it), watched the blue-haired leader quietly. Cliff looked away in thought and Fayt studied Maria's expression closely. He found it quite amazing how she could show so much emotion sometimes, and yet have a completely blank face when speaking as a captain.

Maria sighed and shook her head before adding more. "I apologize for the suddenness. There must be many inconveniences, so if you have any concerns, I'll be in my room after we are all done here. I will try my best to make this work for everyone." With that, Maria sat back down and allowed everyone to finish his or her meals.

Xxxx

Fayt stood nearby Maria's room, watching concerned crewmembers leave and exit her room. Nearly an hour and Maria still had to handle with the issues. When no one had entered her room for five minutes, he took that as his chance to comfort Maria and let her know her decision held no faults.

As Fayt entered, Maria looked up at him from her bed and took a quick breath of air since she was slightly surprised to see him. Fayt walked over to her and asked, "Maria, are you okay?"

Maria let out her billionth sigh that day before looking away and shaking her head. "It's… it's just so much… This _was_ the right choice, was it not…? Part of my mind must still be lost somewhere…" Fayt sat down beside her.

"No it isn't, Maria," Fayt argued. "You thought through things well, and you're even helping some of the crewmembers to decide where to go from here. I think you're doing a wonderful job."

"Oh, Fayt…" Maria leaned against his chest, pulling her arms up close to her own body. Fayt did not say a word as he wrapped his arms around the worried captain and pulled her closer. "You… You always find a way to comfort me…" she told him. _The heavy feeling on my heart goes away whenever you hold me like this…_ They remained like that, as Fayt gently rocked her back and forth in his arms. He did not have to say anymore-- Maria could feel him comforting her.

For five minutes, no one entered the room, leaving the room quiet and peaceful. Perhaps now he could tell her…

"Hey, Maria," Fayt began but then coughed lightly to clear out his throat. Maria slightly pulled away to look up at him.

"Yes, Fayt?" she replied.

"Well… Um…" Fayt hesitated, unsure of how to start. "There's… There's kind of something I've been meaning to tell you…"

Maria's cheeks quickly reddened. Fayt has tried many times before, but it was only recently that Maria finally began to catch onto what he has been trying to tell her. Or, at the least, that is what she has suspected. _Could he be…?_ The bluenette quickly shook the blush away and asked him, "Er, yes? What's the matter? Is there a problem?" The young woman was far too embarrassed to ask something like, "Fayt, do you mean…?" or, "Yes… I've been meaning to tell you something too…" Of course, Fayt had no idea of what thoughts were running through Maria's head at that moment, so he panicked a little, as usual.

"No, there's no problem. I just, um, well…," he stumbled over his words like a parent who had walked into their teenager's room with the lights out and tripped over a large pile of dirty clothes in the middle of the room and nearly killed themselves (you know you're guilty). "I want to say I…" he stopped again. His tongue just refused to let go of those words no matter what! Was it all that hard? He could not cook up enough guts to say it. Only three little words that just absolutely would _not_ come out of his mouth to reach the love of his dreams. Just three! If he could say it to his mom, why could he not say it to Maria? _Well, first of all, Maria isn't my mom._ Fayt mentally shivered at the thought.

Maria saved his restless mind by speaking. She clearly saw the confusing look of horror on his face. "Er, yes…?" She hoped he would be able to finish.

The door to Maria's room slid open and the two embodiments quickly separated as though they were cats and dogs. Fayt stood up and said to Maria, "Sorry, but it looks like you have another guest. I guess I'll just talk to you later then."

"Oh, okay…" Just as Fayt began to leave, Maria said to him, "Thank you, Fayt." He smiled and walked past the other crewmember, leaving the room.

Xxxx

As Fayt was heading to his room, he spotted Lieber looming around the hallways, unsure of what to do. He fidgeted and panicked, unable to believe that Quark's end had finally come. Being in his instinct to help every person in need that he sees, he walked up to him and said, "Hey, what's the matter?" Man, maybe Cliff was right. He _would_ help anyone, even some crazy psychopath who had a 2x4 with rusty nails on one end readied in their hands (not saying that_ Lieber _is a crazy psychopath).

Lieber jumped and turned around to face the speaker. "Oh, hi there, Fayt… Er, nothing's the matter. I'm fine!" he smiled, waving off the idea that something just might be disturbing him, but of course not! That's just crazy. Nothing would be bugging him. Nothing at--.

"You're clearly freaking out over something," Fayt said.

_He saw right through me… Damn!_ Lieber rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Yeah… It's just really weird… Soon, I won't be living on the Diplo anymore. This place was— _is_ my home!"

"You don't have anywhere to go to?"

"No, unless you expect me to live with my parents."

"Oh…"

"Hey, you don't really have anywhere to go to either, do you?" Lieber asked.

"No… Earth was destroyed. Plus, I only have my Mom. My Dad…" Fayt looked away, not wanting to remember the terrible fate of his dad.

"Yeah… Well, what do you plan on doing, then?"

Fayt looked back at him. "Actually, I haven't thought too much about it yet."

"You haven't? Man, that's the _only_ thing I've been thinking about…" Lieber exhaustedly informed. "I'm really not too sure on what to do. And when I _do_ find somewhere to live, what will I do? What will my job be and how will I lead my life? I could probably try getting on another ship, but it wouldn't be the same…"

Fayt listened to what Lieber had to say. Even though the Klausian's thoughts were thrown around here and there, Fayt could get what he was trying to tell him. "Yeah… You're right about that."

"Huh?"

Fayt turned around to look at the ship's wall and stated, "Just look at it! I haven't even been here that long and I already have a special attachment to it. And, if I've been here for such a short time and yet have such an attachment to it, then I couldn't even _begin_ to comprehend on how much you and the rest of the crew love it. Leaving it behind would be a shame."

"Yeah, it really would…" Lieber rested his hand on one of the walls and sighed. "I just can't imagine life without it…" He ran his hand over the cold, smooth surface before removing it. "But I guess I'm going to have to."

"Maria will figure out what to do!" Fayt happily exclaimed. "We just have to support her in this decision first so she can figure out what to do next."

Lieber grinned and nodded. "Yeah, you're right!"

Xxxx

Maria walked into the bridge and up to Cliff and Mirage. The two blondes turned to look at her as she approached.

"Oh, hello there, Maria," Mirage greeted. "Is there something bothering you?"

Of course something had been bugging Maria, but she came to the bridge for a different reason. "No. Something else."

"Yeah? What is it?" Cliff asked.

"I think we should bring Roger, Nel, and Albel back to their planet. I'm sure they're getting homesick by now," the bluenette informed them. "I can also tell by how bored they've been lately. Especially Albel."

Cliff nodded. "Yeah. He's already destroyed some of the equipment. I think the sooner we get him out of here, the least amount of money we'll hafta spend." Mirage chuckled at his comment.

The female Klausian said, "I'll call them to the bridge now to see what they think." Mirage did just as she had said after that, calling all three Elicoorians to the bridge.

Nel arrived then Albel and Roger quickly followed after.

"What's going on?" The Menodix asked first.

Maria took it as her job to ask the three of them. "When would you guys like to go back to your planet? I feel kind of bad for keeping you here for such a long time."

"I want to get off this piece of shiny junk as soon as possible," Albel complained.

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't be junk if you didn't give all of our equipment puncture wounds!" Cliff complained back at him. Albel only crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air.

"Anyway," Maria interrupted, "I suppose we could probably do that now?" she stated, also creating a question for Mirage and Cliff to answer. The two mentioned Klausians looked at each other and nodded.

"We could do that," said Mirage.

"Yes, I wouldn't mind going back now," agreed Nel.

"All right! I get to see Mama and Papa!" Roger excitedly exclaimed. Maria smiled at him before turning around to leave the bridge.

"Well, I'll just go tell Sophia and Fayt to come say goodbye, then."

Xxxx

"Fayt?" Fayt heard a female's voice call to him. He sat up from his laying position on his bed and looked at the emitter of his name. Maria stood at the door, with Sophia right behind her.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" Sophia asked.

"No, not at all," Fayt told them, immediately dismissing the idea of a disturbed nap.

"If that's the case, then we came to tell you that Roger, Nel, and Albel are leaving soon if you want to come say goodbye," Maria informed him.

Fayt got up from his bed and walked up to the two young women. "I have a better idea."

"Go on," Maria said.

"Well, since we're dropping them off, that most likely means we won't return to the planet in a while, right?" Fayt stated before asking.

Sophia and Maria both nodded before they looked at each other and smiled. "Oh! You want to see Elicoor one last time, right?" Sophia asked.

Fayt grinned. "Yeah! Just to enjoy the pretty sights, because we don't have places like that in our current society. I really like it their, too. Just dropping them off and not even getting to see the place would be a shame."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Maria supported the thought. Visiting Elicoor II again one last time would be pleasant.

The three embodiments headed towards the bridge where the Elicoorians and Klausians were. Within minutes, the ship had already reached Elicoor II, all thanks to gravitic warp. When they had entered the planet's gravitational field, Cliff told the others, "Well, we programmed the transporter to bring you to Sanmite Steppe, right by the West entrance of Peterny."

"Wait, Cliff," Fayt stopped him. "Sophia, Maria, and I want to go with them to get our last sights. Would that be okay?"

"Of course, Fayt! You don't even need to ask. You know, I think I'll come with ya guys. I kinda miss the backwater planet. What about you, Mirage?"

"I'm fine right here. You guys go on. We'll just have the Diplo waiting."

With that, Cliff, Maria, Fayt, Albel, Nel, and Roger all left the bridge and headed for the transportation room at the back of the ship.

Xxxx

On entering the city of Peterny, Fayt inhaled deeply and exhaled. "Smell that air. And look at everyone! It really hasn't even been that long since I was here but it feels like it's been forever…"

"It's because we've been through so much. It just seems to lengthen the time," Sophia said.

Albel looked around and snarled. "Oh, great… I forgot there were more people here…"

"Well, you're just gonna have to deal, lummox," Roger scoffed.

"You better shut your mouth before I rip it off and use it to bite your own tail off," he snapped back. Roger remained quiet.

Nel shook her head in annoyance. "You two are ruining the mood and giving me a headache." Sophia giggled. Maria sighed then spoke to the group.

"Come on, you guys. This is probably the last time we'll see all of you in a while. Let's walk around a bit before taking you back to your homes." Cliff nodded in agreement.

Albel pouted and crossed his arms. "Must I?" he asked. Sophia put one hand on her hip.

"Come on! Is that some way to treat your comrades? Surely you don't hate us so much that you'd feel absolutely no sadness saying goodbye," she told him, expressing her slight annoyance with Albel. Albel, with his arms still crossed, looked away and stuck his nose in their.

_Of **course** I would miss them… But, missing them won't do anything. Besides, showing any sign of sappy emotions around them might make them even **sappier** and then they'd want hugs. And to be honest, I'd rather eat discordant dessert than that._ Albel finished thinking to himself before telling the rest, "So what…" He could not think of anything to say. The party crowded around him and glared at him. _What in the world do they want from me?!_ They crowded even closer and the intensity of their glares became fiercer. _What did I say?!_

"You're nauseating, Albel," Cliff said in disgust. Albel panicked a little and backed up. The glares finally got to him, though, and he yelled out his inner thoughts.

"Gah! I don't want you guys getting all sappy!" At that, he turned around and ran away.

Fayt reached out his hand. "Albel! Where are you going?!" he yelled out after him. The bicolor-haired warrior had already ran through a crowd though and disappeared. "Come on, let's go after him!" The party did as they were told and ran after Albel.

They got to the plaza and looked at the three possible streets he could have run down. "Okay, Maria and I will head east, Sophia and Nel will head North, and Roger and Cliff will head south. Got that, guys?" Everyone nodded and ran in their assigned directions. The two bluenettes ran towards the residential area and searched around the houses. Maria saw a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye and motioned Fayt to follow her. They turned around the corner of a house and walked into a small garden. Trees lied scattered about and small bushes surrounded the area.

Fayt spotted Albel sitting on a large rock by one of the trees. Maria and he slowly inched closer before Maria spoke. "Albel…" Albel jumped and looked behind him. He let out an aggravated sigh before turning back around.

"What is it?"

"What's the matter?" Fayt and Maria both asked. They looked at each other strangely then put their attention back on Albel. Albel shook his head and let out another sigh.

"I don't have to tell you," he bluntly replied.

"Could you, though?" Fayt asked. Albel looked up at the two embodiments again before rolling his eyes.

He ran his undamaged hand through his hair and grumbled, "I suppose so." He scooted looked around and noticed that there was nowhere else for the other two to sit, so he just stood up and faced them. "I…" Maria titled her head to the side. What could he be getting at, she wondered. "You guys are of the very first to actually accept me as apart of your party and not fear me or detest me. I'm sure you did in the beginning, though…" Fayt shifted guiltily. "And… I guess I just don't want to say goodbye… for the fact that you were all my first true comrades, and the fact that people get really sappy when they say goodbye."

Fayt and Maria looked at each other as if to say 'Oh… so that was it.' Albel continued, "Do I still have to say bye to everyone?" he asked in a complaining sort of manner. Maria chuckled.

"Of course. If you don't say bye to them, then they'll miss you even more. You don't want _that_, now, do you? It's nice to know that a parting with somebody was a nice one. It's not that bad—and we promise we won't get all 'sappy' or 'gushy', all right?" Albel scowled but then nodded his head in agreement.

"Fine. I'll come and say goodbye. But then I'm leaving and you better not follow me. Got that?"

Fayt smiled. "Understood," he assured Albel.

Xxxx

Back in the plaza, the group met up again. Albel reluctantly followed behind Fayt and Maria. "Albel has something to say now," Maria said. Albel sneered at her slightly before stepping forward and facing all of them.

"…" He looked at Fayt as if to ask 'Do I really have to?' Fayt raised an eyebrow and smirked, as if replying 'Come on, it's not that hard'. Albel growled then looked back at the rest of the team. "…Goodbye, everybody." He then made an attempt to run off but Fayt held him by his wrist and he stopped in his tracks. "Fine, Leingod. You win…" He cleared his throat and tried for his third time a proper goodbye. "It was nice fighting alongside all of you and I regret that our time together..." he gulped, "had to be so shor--." He gagged on the last word and turned away.

Cliff laughed. "Did Fayt hafta teach ya that?"

Maria nodded. "Actually… I did." Albel sent her another glare before converting back to his little gloomy corner. Nel smiled.

"Goodbye, Albel. Hope to see you soon," she said before holding out her hand. "I'm glad we didn't have to kill each other in war." Albel looked at her hand then looked away. Nel's smile turned into a scowl and she began yelling, "WHAT"S YOUR PROLEM?! I TOUGHT WE WERE THROUGH ALL OF THIS!" Roger flinched and Cliff backed off. Nel picked up the nearest apple pie from a nearby table, angering the customer eating eat, then made an attempt to hit Albel with it. Albel ducked just in time and the gooey mixture met with the cobble stone floor.

"WHAT ARE YOU, CRAZY?!?" he exclaimed in fury.

"NO, JUST ANNOYED AT YOUR IMMATURITY!" The red-head turned on her heel an stormed in the opposite direction. She crossed her arms and said, without facing them, "Continue."

Roger gulped then looked up at the angry Albel. "Um… bye!" He then ran over to Nel. Cliff, Sophia, Fayt, and Maria all looked at each other with amused (and slightly worried) expressions.

"Bye, Albel," Cliff simply said before walking off. He did not want to start another fight. Sophia took her turn.

"You're hard to get along with, and I think that you still don't like me much, but it was nice having you in our party."

Maria nodded then said, "I agree. But we'll all miss you." She plastered a triumphant smile on her face as Albel turned around and sent her yet another glare. "Goodbye, Albel!"

Fayt rubbed the back of his head. He wanted this goodbye to be a nice one. He knows that he and Albel definitely have _not_ seen eye to eye during their whole journey. That one time still exists when Albel even had a… sort of 'obsession' with Fayt (remember you guys? It was waaay back in the earlier chapters. I almost forgot about it, myself). "Well, I guess with is really goodbye, with Luther and the Federation gone and everything… It was nice battling alongside you and I hope we get to see each other again soon." Albel looked up at him. Fayt blinked once in confusion. "Er, um, yes…?"

Albel smirked. "Do you still hate me?" Fayt blushed slightly and looked away. Maria, Cliff, and Sophia exchanged confused glances.

"N-no… You're really not that bad."

"Heh. You're still a fool." With that last comment, Albel walked towards the south exit of the town.

Xxxx

**A/N:** I hope you guys are still reading this story. I really do. And once again, I apologize for the long wait. I just felt kind of… out of writing for a while. But now that I (finally) have chapter 20 up, I hope I can get chapter 21 up much sooner. Hmm… This chapter… I really don't know what to say about it… Goodbye Albel! I hope I didn't make him seem too emotional and what not. Well, please, please review. It doesn't have to be a long review or even a nice review, just something to let me know that people want to see a next chapter and I'm not a pathetic failure at life and writing XD. I hope to have more FeiMari in the next chapter, and I'm not even going to predict the last chapter because I've been off every single time. See you till then! Ah… and I haven't read over the last few pages, so please excuse any of my typos. Ta-ta!


	21. Farewell Does Not Mean Forever

Xxxx

_Disclaimer_: Star Ocean 3 is owned by Tri-Ace… You know… I never understood why we have to put these if this is FAnfiction dot net.

**A/N:** Ah, yes, it feels somewhat empty without Albel… Nevertheless, everyone will survive! Heh, I feel slightly proud of myself XD. I've been improving in my writing a lot… Like, with grammar and everything. I try to make my stories as interesting with grammar as possible, and I hope you guys will notice it! Since I can't speak anymore, (I sound like an idiot since I mess up so much) typing is all I really have. Er… I forgot what else I was going to type… Well, I'm still not sure what to do with Nel, Albel, _or_ Clair (if any of you remember earlier chapters), but I've been very intrigued by the friendship between Nel and Clair. I also want to have more to do with Albel, but he has too many problems to solve. I'm lost! I'm about as lost as Albel on the streets of Arkives. Well, I had best continue this chapter. No idea how long it's going to be or who's leaving next… I guess Roger though since Surferio is right there.

That, and it wouldn't seem right for me to have an A/N without apologizing for the lateness. I've been so lazy, and drawing so much… and I didn't have it in me to write anything, really. However, you guys are my fans, and you love my story (and I hope you're still reading this), so I don't want to disappoint you guys. So, for the 100 th time this story, I'm really, really, sorry! I don't mean to suck lemons!

Xxxx

Chapter 21: Farewell Does not Mean Forever

Xxxx

The remaining party members approached the quaint, little town of Surferio. Roger became more and more nervous upon returning home to his family. The clear waters rushed calmly beneath them as the mermaids swam about. Maria took in a breath of fresh air and relinquished it with ease. "I always loved the fresh air on Elicoor," she declared, gaining a few nods of agreements from the other members. Roger remained stationary, though. Strides led his only movements.

Sophia noticed his change of behavior. "Roger? What's the matter? You're unusually quiet," she asked him in concern. Roger changed the direction of his eyes to face her but kept his head in the same position, creating a pouty appearance.

"I'm just… nervous. I haven't been home in a while, and, even though I've been gone before, I just get nervous…" Roger shook his head and thought—I'm just not making any sense, am I? Nel set her hand on Roger's shoulder and smiled.

"I know how you feel. I am always gone from both Arias and Aquios, but I still get slightly nervous each time. It's nice seeing the ones you love. It's nothing strange," she consoled. Roger sighed.

"Yeah… I guess you're right…"

Fayt grinned, turning his head to the side. "Aww, come on, now! Cheer up! You don't want to walk in there all gloomy and stuff!" he exclaimed, a scary amount of cheerfulness escaping from his voice when he said 'gloomy'. "Your parents want to see you happy, right?" Roger rubbed the back of his head.

With the quick turn of a lip, he smiled and energetically stated, "You're absolutely right!" He ran ahead of the rest. Everyone could now read the eagerness of the little Menodix as he rushed to greet his loving parents. With smiles flowing from their lips, they all ran after him.

"Mama! Papa! I'm home!" The excited ball-of-fluff exclaimed. An older looking Menodix emerged from a nearby room, her face immediately lightening up as she spotted her son.

"Roger!" She held out her arms as Roger ran and jumped into them.

"Mama!" he shouted in joy. While digging his head into the arms of his mother, he spotted his father off to the side. In another excited leap, he left the hug and lunged at the taller Menodix. "Papa!"

"Roger, we're so glad to have you home, again," his mother kindly told him. Roger wiped an unnoticeable tear away from his brown eyes as he nodded vigorously.

"And am I ever glad to be home!" The rest of the party entered the house and stopped to grin at Roger. Roger, putting his parents to the side for moment, strolled up to his friends. "Thanks, guys." Fayt leaned down so that he was level with Roger and placed his hand atop of the child's head.

"No problem." He paused when he saw the Menodix slightly sadden. "Aww, this isn't our last goodbye. Maybe we'll get to go on another adventure, together!"

"I'm… I'm sorry for leaving y'all so soon. I'm being a big baby by wanting to go home."

"Huh, is that what's bothering you? Nonsense!" Cliff assured him. Fayt nodded in agreement.

"A real man knows when he has to return home! He knows when the ones he loves miss him, and when he misses the ones he loves," he explained, making up anything for Roger to believe.

Looking at the floorboards, and then looking back up, Roger said, "You're right huh?"

"Exactly! So, don't think you're running away or anything. You're just taking a break to do what's right." Removing his hand from the humanoids head, Fayt stood back up to his original height and grinned. "Well, we hope to see you soon. I'll make sure to visit you."

"And give me more 'real man' lessons?"

"Why not?" replied Fayt.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Thanks, again, Fayt! You're a great pal! Bye now!" Roger waved at everybody, everybody waving back, and then turned back towards his parents once they all said their farewells. "I'll stay here for a while with you guys!"

Xxxx

"Well, now," Maria began, turning her gaze towards Nel. "Shall we lead you to Arias?"

"I should probably stop by and report to her Majesty, first. I didn't expect to be gone from my regular duties for so long," the Crimson Blade explained in a monotone voice. Maria slightly frowned. She knew, from a very early experience, that Clair always missed Nel whenever the redhead was gone. And, the sooner Nel saw her again, the better they would both feel.

"…" the female bluenette did not speak. She contemplated on what to do: convince Nel to see Clair before heading out to Aquios, or just let her choose her own decisions. Fayt noticed Maria's frustration and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She jumped slightly, but quickly gained her normal countenance. "Y-yes?"

Fayt's eyebrows furrowed together before asking, "Is something the matter, Maria?"

The gunwoman vigorously shook her head. "No, nothing at all! Let's get going! Eheh…" she quickly walked ahead of the rest.

Nel looked up at the remaining party members. "Did I… say something wrong?" Sophia shrugged, and Cliff just held his fist to his mouth in a gesture of thinking. Fayt ran to catch up with Maria.

"Maria…" his voice called out to her. Maria paused mid-step, unable to avoid Fayt. She sighed heavily and nervously turned around. "You can tell me, can't you?"

"Well…" she fiddled with her fingers, a very common sign for hesitation, "you remember--," she stopped, glancing behind Fayt to conclude that no one was listening in on them. "…that time when you were injured and we had to stay at the Arias inn? Do you remember what Clair said about Nel? She constantly misses her and wishes she could see her more…" Fayt closed and nodded his head, understanding Maria perfectly.

"And since Nel's been gone for a while, you wanted her to see Clair first before reporting to the Queen?"

"Yeah."

"But you don't want to interfere with what Nel wants to do…"

"Exactly!" Maria exclaimed. She began to wonder if Fayt's powers allowed him to read minds. Fayt turned to look at the party, who were chatting about some matter, then gazed back at Maria. "Should I just… leave her alone?" Fayt crossed his arms as he tried to think of a good notion. He also wanted Nel to return home to Clair. The two had not seen each other in quite a bit. Truthfully… they rarely ever had a chance to see each other. How did that affect Nel? She was trained not to show too many emotions, but… she obviously felt sad somewhere in her heart. Right?

Fayt had decided. He turned on his heel and walked over to Nel. "Nel," he began. Nel blinked in confusion at the seriousness in his voice. "Er, um, I mean…" he coughed, clearing out his voice. "I didn't mean to sound too serious!" He laughed weakly and rubbed the back of his head. Maria brought her hand to her temple as she rubbed it in aggravation.

Fayt can be such an idiot… But, that's why I love him, she thought while blushing slightly. Fayt attempted to confront Nel again, sounding less constipated that time. "Um, Nel… should you not return to Clair, first? I bet she misses you terribly," he finally managed to ask. Nel shifted slightly and looked away. Fayt cocked his head to the side. "Eh, is… something wrong?" Nel looked up at everyone again and shook her head.

"No, there's nothing wrong…" Maria walked up to Nel. Now, it was her turn.

"You shouldn't make Clair wait. You and I both know how much it hurts her," she informed Nel, hoping to get a better reaction than what Fayt received.

"But, that's… well…"

"Why are you delaying, Nel?" Maria questioned, but speaking a bit more gently than she had before. Nel shook her head.

"I just…" she paused. She found her reasons for delaying could be seen as silly to other people. Should she tell them? Would they laugh or say that it was silly of her to think that? But… they were her friends. Surely, they would understand. "Whenever I go back… She's so happy to see me. And, yet, I can see how hurt she is… _was_ from my absence. I hate having to return, and then say, 'Sorry, but I have to leave again.' She gives me a really sad look, but I can only walk away…" Nel brought her hand to her forehead and shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, I--,"

"Don't be sorry," Fayt assured her. "But, you know that when you're gone longer, it hurts her even more? And she cherishes any moment to see you come home, even if it's just for two seconds. Because she knows that, you are okay and that she'll get to see you again soon. You want her to feel comforted when you're away, right?" Maria nodded in agreement. Cliff and Sophia decided it was best for them to avoid replying to anything, since that conversation did not seem to involve them.

Nel sighed and looked at the floor. Maria continued Fayt's advice. "He is absolutely right. Clair would cherish any moment with you, even if you had to depart shortly after. You miss her as much as she misses you."

The last sentence finally struck Nel. She missed Clair to a point where she would just hold her and never let go. She knew that would never happen since they both had duties to attend to, but she wanted at least to glance at her kind smile every now and then. The warrior brought her hands up to her eyes and covered them, attempting to stop the stinging tears forming around her eyes. "Y-you guys are right… I don't know why I try to avoid her if it only hurts both of us…" She released a small, weak chuckle. "I'm nothing but a fool…"

Fayt and Maria exchanged worried glances. Nel relinquished another tormented sigh and looked up at the two embodiments. "Well… shall we head to Arias?" Everyone's faces lit up at the announcement of Nel's decision.

Xxxx

**A/N**: This is by far my shortest chapter ever, but I need to stop and plan out the rest. That, and I need to know if you guys mind/don't mind ClairxNel, because I'm just really drawn to typing that, but I'm more for my fans then what I want to put, so, just let me know, okay guys?

That, and if you have any ideas for what you want me to do with Albel, let me know. Oh… one more thing (gosh, I really don't know my story, do I?), also give me ideas on the whole LieberxSophia thing I have going on, and how I should make them a bit closer since I just introduced that idea to myself. As I said before, I'm about as lost as _anybody_ in the Mosel Dunes.

Sorry for such a long wait and such a short chapter, but I'm back into typing this story, and a next chapter should soon be around the corner! As soon as I get your reviews, of course…


	22. Epilogue

**Holy... how do I even begin? First off, this isn't a joke. I have finally, FINALLY brought the last chapter to you. You can see right now, it's actually there. I don't even know why I stopped in the first place. Turns out, all I had to do was pop the game back into my PS2 and take a trip down nostalgia lane. I know, it shouldn't have taken over 5 years, and for that I am a complete butthead. Go ahead and kick me around. I need it.  
**

**I don't even know who's reading this anymore, or who **_**cares**_** for that matter. But if you've been waiting, or if you're the ones who sent me reviews begging for the last chapter, well, here you go. I did this for you. I owe you all a lot. You supported me through my beginning as writer and I've grown so much since then.******

My writing is totally different now, and I actually know how to stay in character. I had to stop myself from going back and rereading my story, otherwise I got pissed at how bad everything was and I lost the interest to write up the last chapter again. _**Because**_** I didn't reread everything, I kind of don't remember what the hell I wrote. So I just stuck to the FaytxMaria aspect mostly, since that's the main focus of this story. The other characters have short finales, but if I wanted to deliver this closure to you all, I had to just stick with what I remembered.**

With that said, I hope this epilogue isn't too disappointing. And I hope that you hate me a little less now?"  


**Thank you again, everyone! It really has been a long and bumpy ride. I wish I could do something else to make up for the wait I put you through.**

-  
_Epilogue_

Fayt and Maria knew they had made the right decision to confront Nel when Clair eagerly ran up to hug her long-time friend. They noted the tears in both Clair's and Nel's eyes and shared a satisfied glance with each other.

Their little group was already starting to feel empty. Fayt himself had to take a deep breath to fight off the sadness that was threatening to encompass him. Once Nel and Clair greeted each other, the warrior turned to face Fayt, Maria, Sophia and Cliff. "This has truly been a journey. The experience I've gained with you has been more than what I've received my entire life." She then paused, considering her next words . "It will strange around here without your prese- oh, what am I doing."

Startling everyone, Nel walked forward and hugged each of them, putting away her formalities to give everyone a goodbye they deserved. "I'm going to miss all of you so much," she said after pulling away, trying to hide the hitch in her throat with a small cough. She rarely had people in her life who were close to her, and here she was, saying goodbye to individuals who had become her family.

Maria walked up to her and held her hands. "We'll miss you too, Nel. Everything we've been through would have been impossible to accomplish without you. I'm glad you were with us." Sophia nodded her agreement. She hadn't known the woman nearly as long but even she knew she was an important component of their group.

Cliff then chuckled to himself. "And to think, we only met because of a silly crash-landing."

Fayt smiled as he responded, "Something good came out of all of this chaos." He then placed a hand on her shoulder as he continued, "We'll make sure to visit. After all, I should probably help out with reconstruction. It is kind of my fault your towns got destroyed."

Nel playfully nudged him. "Not _all _your fault. But you saved us too. So thanks for that."

"Where will you all go? Do you have homes to return to?" Clair asked out of curiosity.

Sophia had been thinking about it a lot, so she was the first to reply. "I realized how easy it is to lose people, so I want to stay near everyone important to me. And, well," here she nervously played with her skirt, "Lieber doesn't really have much to return to either so I think I want to help him out." She looked to Fayt as she spoke again, "And I want to help out your mom too, Fayt. She's alone now." It was almost a relief to speak up. For so long she'd been fixated on a future with Fayt, and even though they'd still be close, she wasn't meant for him.

"She'd love that." Fayt smiled but Sophia's face still looked nervous and unsure. "And we'll always keep in contact, no matter what."

She smiled after that, nodding her head and letting the hem of her skirt drop out of her hands.

"And the rest of you?" Clair turned her attention toward the remaining three.

Fayt looked at Maria, not sure how to answer that. He wanted to be wherever Maria was even though she had no idea what she was going to do either. Where _would_ they go? Wherever it was, neither of them wanted to have to be in combat ever again. Near death experiences tend to kill your desire for adventure.

"We're not sure yet," Maria finally answered, turning to look at Fayt, their eyes meeting for the first time since arriving on the planet. In that glance, they saw each others' uncertainty, and unwillingness to leave each other. But they didn't have to leave each other. Fayt realized that now.

"I'm staying with Maria," he declared, seeming to admit to himself for the first time, as well as to everyone else, his devotion to the woman. "Wherever you decide to go, I want to stay with you." Perhaps that was the closest to an 'I love you' Fayt had ever managed to say to her.

Sophia nodded with a small smile. Cliff's eyebrows climbed his forehead dramatically. "About time. Does that mean you two are together yet?" Clair bit her lip to hold back a smile, because she was just as eager as everyone else to see the two happy.

Both Fayt and Maria felt their faces redden from the embarrassment, but they couldn't deny what they had been through together. Was it all finally coming to a close? Had they become a couple without realizing it? Maria finally looked away and rubbed at her face as she muttered, "M-maybe."

Clair finally let out a happy laugh. "You don't need titles to know how you feel about each other." She glanced discreetly at Nel as she spoke.

"Ah, you two are just fun to mess with," Cliff teased as he tussled the blue hair on each of their heads.  
"As for me, I have no idea where I'm goin' but I'll figure it out. I can take command of the ship again and travel the galaxy like I used to."

"I think if anyone took command of the Diplo, I'd want it to be you, Cliff," Maria told him, glad for a distraction.

Her comment left him embarrassed but he hid it better than the younger people. "I'll take good care of her."

After a few more minutes, everyone finally said goodbye for real. The last of the group waved their hands as they began to walk away from Nel and Clair. Tynave and Farleen showed up just in time to wave their goodbyes as well.

And while they were still in earshot, Clair shouted after them, "Thank you for bringing her back safe!"

-

With all of their Elicoorian friends back on their home planet, the rest made their way back onto the ship. With some people already packed and ready to be dropped off at a station to return home, the ship felt desolate. The usual chatter had ceased as well, and suddenly the end of their journey finally struck Fayt.

Cliff left them to talk to Mirage about taking command of the ship again, and Sophia had more plans to make with Lieber so she left as well.

It was even quieter now.

"So you meant it, huh?" Maria asked once they were alone.

He didn't have to ask what she meant. Fayt was past playing dumb. He smiled sheepishly at her. "It's not silly, is it?"

Maria's response was a laugh, something Fayt hasn't heard in a while. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a hug, hearing a startled squeak leave him. She sighed contentedly into the crook of his neck. "Not at all. It makes me happy to hear you say that. I was hoping, I mean, we've been through so much and it seemed obvious- I'm just glad you feel the same way."

And he did. He felt more for her than he ever had for anyone else. He'd had important people in his life, but no one had a stronger grip on his heart than Maria. It was firm, but gentle, and it filled him with bliss. He wanted to see her smile, stop any harm from coming to her ever again. She deserved a lot in life, and Fayt was glad to be a part of that life.

"Maria," he began, pulling away slightly to get a good look at her face.

"Yes?"

This was hard. He couldn't _really _summarize everything he felt into three words, could he? Yet that's what people did anyway. Somehow those three were enough.

Just as he was done playing dumb, he was also done being a coward.

With some hesitation behind his actions, Fayt released Maria from the embrace and brought his hands to the side of her face. He titled her face up until their noses were almost touching. Her lips were already parted, frozen in anticipation. In a final movement, he brought his lips down to hers and held them captive in a kiss, the first one they'd ever shared.

Maria gasped, but quickly pushed her surprise aside and brought her hands up to meet Fayt's. There their fingers intertwined, and she deepened the once chaste kiss. The sound of her own heartbeat nearly deafened her.

Fayt felt that this said more than words, but Maria still had to hear them. He broke the kiss, smiling as he pulled away. Maria was blushing more than she'd care to admit, but she grinned up at him. So, with a big breathe, shaky as it was, he finally uttered, "I love you."

Maria's grin was larger than anyone ever thought possible. Fayt would have spent more time admiring just how much it made her beautiful face light up, but she practically jumped forward again to plant another kiss on him. She smiled while her lips were still pressed against his, then she added with in an almost-whisper, "I love you too, Fayt. I wanted to tell you many times before."

"I should've spoken up sooner, then," Fayt responded. Maria hushed him with her finger.

"It's okay. I think now was a good time."

Fayt glanced around, finally aware of the fact that they were standing in the middle of a hallway. "Let's get out of this corridor, shall we? There's something I want to ask."

"Okay," Maria agreed, grabbing Fayt's hand and leading him to her room. Once inside, they sat on her bed and Maria immediately turned to face him. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all. I was just wondering about your plans now that everything is done. I know we both want to hang low, and get our heads back on straight. Especially you. You literally almost lost your mind." He tapped her playfully on the head, causing her to shoo his hand away. To be honest, he also still needed the time to come to grips with his father's death.

"Yes. This life's been too hectic. I already feel like I need to retire somewhere," she added with a chuckle. "But where can we go? Everyone knows our names by now. Here _and_ in the 4D."

Fayt nodded his head in understanding. "That's why I was thinking that Elicoor might not be a bad place for now. They don't have the paparazzi there."

"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. We've already kind of destroyed the UP3 here anyway. Multiple times."

Fayt smiled, glad to hear that his idea hadn't scared her off. "Let's make plans tomorrow. We can find a small house. Surferio could be a great place, if you can handle a lot of Roger." He always did enjoy the log houses, as well as the slowly running river.

Maria placed her head on Fayt's shoulder and let out an appreciative hum. "I like that idea too," she said, her last words swallowed up by a yawn. "But right now let's get some rest." She kicked off her shoes then plopped down on her sheets, tugging Fayt after her. Having him beside her wasn't a new sensation, but this time they had admitted feelings for each other, and that certainly changed the circumstances a bit.

After removing his bulkier pieces of clothing, Fayt positioned himself closer to Maria yet again, holding her close in his arms. She grabbed one of his hands, holding it securely as she traced circles into his skin with her thumb.

They remained silent in each others' presence for a bit until Fayt spoke up. "I'm glad to have you, Maria. I can't find enough words to tell you how much I mean it."

She shook her head. "Everything you've done these past few months has been enough. Don't worry about it."

"I just wanted to tell you. You deserve to know about the good you've done." Fayt then kissed her before she could speak again, taking away any words she had prepared. This kiss lasted much longer than their previous two and the distance between them felt too great when they finally parted. "Now I'll go to sleep," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Not after that romantic display," Maria responded with equal playfulness. She rolled on top of him and laughed when he let out a startled yelp. She smiled at his reaction, and _man,_ if Maria's smiles were a drug then Fayt swore he'd be higher than the clouds at that moment.

At least they had a moment to themselves, and they couldn't be happier. Tomorrow would be a new chapter in their lives, one they'd be spending together. The events that brought them together were chaotic and destructive, but they still managed to emerge more complete than before. The future would be new and exciting. And with Fayt by Maria's side, and Maria by Fayt's side, they'd handle whatever that future wanted to throw at them.

-Fin-


End file.
